A World Apart
by Haruka's Knight
Summary: Alternate Universe. Starts in the USA. Haruka's mother was American, when the marriage fails she moves back to the US with little Haruka. Pairing will show later. Please R&R. Sorry I am bad with summaries.
1. Parting Ways

**A World Apart:**

**Chapter 1: Parting Ways**

Tokyo international airport saw many guests each day, everyone from the most important people to those on vacation from their everyday lives. In a busy terminal sat a serious looking woman in her early thirties, her long blonde hair was tied back in a pony tail while her teal eyes regarded a silver watch on her wrist. Next to her sat a seven-year-old girl with shoulder length blonde hair and the same teal eyes as her mother, she held an ice cream in one hand as she watched the woman. They sat in silence as the child continued to lick at her ice cream, the woman smiling now and then in her direction. Finally the boarding call for their flight was heard and the woman stood, taking the little girls hand.

"Well, Haruka, are you ready to go see mommy's home country?" The woman asked, her smile only a little sad, as they reached the gate.

"Will they have ice cream and pianos?" Asked Haruka as she gazed up at her mother.

"Yes, dear, there will be plenty of ice cream and I am sure we can get a piano." The older woman smiled warmly this time as the two stepped onto the plane. Slowly the hatch shut behind the last passenger and the plane began its departure sequence.

Somewhere in the Tokyo high rises sat a Japanese man with short black hair and serious brown eyes. He leaned back in his plush lounge chair and gazed again at the black grand piano in his living room, remember a blonde little girl sitting on the bench as her mother taught her to play. His eyes blurred a bit but he merely sighed, closing them against the setting sun that pored through the windows. Legal documents lay unfolded upon his lap, ignored in the darkening room.

He already knew what they said. Haruka Ten'ou was now in the soul custody of her mother, no visiting rights were arranged in the divorce. He knew this was for the best, let them all start their lives anew, but still he couldn't help but feel lost.

**Author's Note:**

And that, my friends out in cyber space, is all I post until I get at least one review. B-) No this isn't the sequel to "Can't Leave You Alone"; this is a new project that I am starting to get it out of my head. I promise the next chapter will be longer; this is just a small background of sorts.


	2. Life in the USA

**Author's Note:** Because of a certain reviewer I feel the need to make this clear, I was joking about not posting more unless I got one review. I am extremely happy that people have reviewed, especially with how short chapter one was, but I would have posted this chapter either way. In fact this chapter wasn't yet written when I posted the last one.

Thank you for the reviews, and thank you for taking time to read this.

**Disclaimer: I think I forgot this in chapter one, but I do not own any of the Sailor Moon characters, and this in no way reflects the views of the US military (you'll see why). I also don't own Workman High, but it does exist.**

**Chapter 2: **Life in the USA

Ten years had passed since that day in Tokyo international, the little girl hardly remembering most of those events. Growing up in her mother's home state of California was in most ways fast paced. No one here tended to wait on things, and few seemed to plan ahead until they were in their thirties. Cars were flashy, fast, or old and in need of repair. Schools were either had no spirit or forced school spirit.

William Workman High School in Industry was no exception. The school was spread out across multiple levels, with staircases and ramps place through out. The cafeteria was an open-air place with no indoor seating, and soda and snack machines dotted the campus. The walls were red brick, doors painted red as well and over hangs painted tan.

On the top level stood the schools central office, this was the place where all the major paperwork was done. The place that sent out report cards, detention slips, special notices and all the other things parents tended to worry about. As the late May sun beat down on the wide open campus one figure stood quietly leaning against a large bolder placed in the middle of the upper quad. The bolder was painted silver today; messages like "Class of 2002 rules!" were scrawled in different colors across its surface.

The figure was tall, wearing hiking boots, black slacks, and a black collared shirt with a white t-shirt underneath with reflective sunglasses that glinted in the sun. Extremely short blonde hair was spiked at the moment as several girls' gazes were drawn to the lone figure. Another figure came running from the near by ampi-theater, short black hair messed as he finally stopped before the rock.

"Haruka! Man, you missed the whole thing, POWER 106 was down there giving stuff away!" He stopped to look around with his brown eyes, taking notice of those few who were on the upper level. "I still don't get how you can spend four years in this school and there are still people that think you're a guy."

"Does it matter?" Haruka replied as she straightened up and picked up her backpack. She glanced around, though no one could tell through the glasses, before turning toward her last class of the day. "I think the bell is going to ring soon, you going to be late again Brian?"

"What do you mean the bell is going to ring?" But before he could get an answer the bell sounded across the campus and Brian swore. He started back toward the ampi-theater in a blur of forest camouflage and jumped the railing. Haruka smiled a bit, walking away as a guard yelled at her friend.

Class was nothing special, as Brian and Haruka were both seniors and this was their last week of school. Everyone in class was talking and exchanging numbers or other information for half the period before the teacher stopped them. He got the all quieted by threatening to keep them behind until the guest speaker finished.

"Thank you Mr. Ericsson." Said a man in a military uniform as he and a young woman in a similar uniform entered the room. "I'm Staff Sergeant Carson and this is Private Second Class Day."

"Your teacher has been nice enough to let us have a little time to tell you about life in the Army." Sergeant Carson began. His speech was short considering, it only lasted about fifteen minutes. After that he opened the floor to questions. On a normal year he'd most likely have gotten few questions, and Private Day would have likely heard none, but this was the year that September 11th took place. Most of the class had questions, even if they weren't too serious about it and all took a card from the recruiter and his assistant.

"Do all Sergeants have a Private following them around?" Somebody called out.

"No, I am just here doing hometown recruiting. I actually graduated from this high school last year." Day answered with what seemed to be a proud smile.

"So we get to come home after we train?" Somebody else voiced.

"Well, if you go into the reserves you actually live and serve in your home state, you only serve two days a month in fact." That caused some people to start murmuring. "If you go into the regular Army like myself and Sergeant Carson though after your training is finished you get a ten day leave. You can increase that by applying for home town recruiting."

"What about where we get sent, don't they just send us to Iraq or something?"

"Not exactly." Day looked around and grinned at all the interested looks on the students' faces. "You can request a specific station when you sign your contract, if you get that on your contract that where you'll be sent. Places like Germany, Italy, Japan or places closer to home like Organ, Hawaii and Nevada."

"You said Japan? So we could get a job as say a driver or something in Japan?" Haruka said, voicing a question for the first time.

"You could get any job depending on your test scores." Carson cut in, giving Day a break. He smiled at the class in front of him. "For instance, do we have any instrument players in here?"

"I play piano." Haruka spoke again. Carson's eyes seemed to light up somehow.

"Can you sight read, memorize and play at a professional level?" He asked as a few heads turned to look at her.

"Yes, sir."

"Will then, if you have any interest in the service give me a call. We hold try outs for Army Band about four times a year and I can arrange to get you an addition. You could play piano in Japan or any other country you like if you pass."

At the end of class Haruka walked next to an excited Brian toward the parking lot. He was excited about joining, he always wanted to and that was the main reason he wore camouflage clothes everywhere he went. Haruka was now considering it too, and her friend was all too happy to help persuade her. As she drove him home in her mustang he continued on and on about the pay, pride and perks of the military in general.

"I'll think about." Haruka promised as he shut the door and grinned at her. "But no promises."

"Right, have fun at piano lessons Haruka." Brian waved from the sidewalk as she drove away.

Haruka hadn't honestly thought about actually being able to return to Japan before. She hardly remembered it, hardly remembered Tokyo and the few friends she'd had before moving here with her mother. She had received no word from her father; she knew his face only because of the photos her mother had shown her over the years. She had thought about returning, even considered saving to do so after she graduated, but it didn't seem like she ever really would.

Today, as she sat before the piano in the college music hall, as she played a piece her dead mother once taught her, she thought it over again. Maybe she could return, maybe she could even find her father, if she wanted to. And while seeing the country of her birth she could still serve the country she was raised in. In fact Haruka was having a hard time seeing the downsides right now.

Late that I night she returned to her grandparents home in the hills of La Puente. The house was clean and warm but not home to Haruka, she'd only moved in about one year ago. When her mother passed away her grandparents were the only ones left, so everything just automatically shifted to their house. She hung her jacket up by the door and walked quietly up the stairs to the guest room she stayed in, falling onto the bed with a sigh.

'I'll think about it, and I think I will give it a try.' Haruka thought to herself before she got up to eat and get ready for bed.

Saturday morning Haruka got out of bed early, in fact it was still well before dawn. She dressed quickly and grabbed a few pieces of toast before she got her car keys and coat. She quietly locked the door behind her as she walked over to her yellow mustang and unlocked the door. Luckily Haruka's habit morning jogs had long since made her a morning person, so she was fine about this early hour. The drive to the Army recruitment office was short, and she hummed as she got out her car and walked to the door.

"Good morning." She heard behind her and almost jumped. The station was still dark at this hour and as she turned she spotted Private Day standing in the parking lot wearing sweats. "Didn't mean to startle you, Ten'ou."

"I'm fine, Private." Haruka grinned as she followed the now retreating young woman toward a silver car. Her hair was tied back in a short ponytail and doubled over but Haruka still remembered the girl from before she enlisted. "By the way, when did you grow your hair out?"

"BASIC, women don't get hair cuts." Day looked over her shoulder, pressing a button on her key chain that unlocked the car doors. She waved to the car before getting in herself. After Haruka was buckled in Day turned and handed her a paper to sign. "You're eighteen right?"

"Yes, turned eighteen in January." Haruka replied as she signed the paper and waited quietly for the car to start. When Private Day started the car and pulled out of the parking lot she leaned back in the seat and watched the street lights pass.

Today was nothing serious, just an aptitude test she had to take. They said they'd have to take her out to Los Angeles in order to take the test and that she'd be there for about half the day, also mentioned that another kid was going out there today. They drove down a number of dark streets before the arrived at a small house. Day parked the car and got out silently as she walked up to the door. A short time later she returned with a young man following her.

"Hey." He said happily as he got in back. His green eyes seemed to dance even at this early hour and he almost seemed to bounce in the back seat as the car started to move. "My names Taylor, what's yours?"

"Haruka." She replied, looking over the backrest at the boy. He had a huge grin even as he tried and failed to say her name. Finally she broke it into syllables out of pity. "Ha-ru-ka."

"Ha-ru-ka." He parroted like a kid watching Sesame Street. "Haruka. Hey I think I finally got it!"

"I had a friend who'd ask if you want a cookie, Taylor, but I'll just ask if you two ate." Day commented as they got to the freeway on ramp.

"Yes ma'am!" Taylor shouted, obviously too into this whole event for his own good. Haruka only nodded and Day turned onto the freeway.

The radio was flipped on and at first a traffic report came over the speakers, then Day popped in a CD and a blare of brass instruments was heard. Haruka raised an eyebrow as she recognized the Star Wars theme, but didn't say a word. It took about an hour by freeway, most of which time Taylor babbled on about wanting to be an Army Ranger. Finally they pulled up next to a building and Day led them in. A security guard searched the two recruits before they went to sign in.

The two were informed to go the second level, where the test would take place, and enter a certain room. After that they were to wait until they were told to do something else.

"When you're done call this number, I'm not allowed to wait here." Day said as she handed a card with a cell phone number to each. "Have fun." She called ominously as she walked away.

Haruka soon found herself sitting quietly in a room while Taylor fidgeted in another chair, it seemed he didn't like being silent. They sat there, filling out some papers until a young man in Marine sweats walked in. He took their papers than led them to computers in a large room. Taylor was seated near the door and Haruka was led off to the far side of the room. The screen flashed with brief instructions as the test started.

"Nice." Day, now in a combat uniform, murmured as she led her two charges back to the car around noon. She arrived well after the called holding sheets Haruka assumed were their result papers. "You two want lunch?"

"Sure." Taylor spoke, his energy seeming to have abandoned him. So they soon found themselves in a burger place near the tall building. Day went over the results with someone one the phone while they ate. Haruka gave up wondering which sergeant the young woman was talking to and just ate her food.

"Okay." Day hung up the cell phone and looked at the two teens before her. She was only about a year older than Haruka so she regarded them like she would her old classmates. "Taylor, you qualify for Airborne if that's what you want, your recruiter will tell you more. And Haruka, Sergeant Carson said he wants to talk to you Monday. You scored pretty high, almost out did me but I think it's a tie, which means you can get practically any job you want."

"Okay, when does he want to meet?" Haruka asked as she finished her soda.

"He said he'd call you later today to finalize that part." She stood and grinned again. "Alright, if you two are ready lets head back to LP."

The drive wasn't too bad, and Haruka got back into her mustang and drove off to her grandparents' home. They were out so she just went upstairs to the room in which her piano sat and began to play. Her fingers moved lightly over the keys and she played again the first sing her mother ever taught her. It seemed that these days she could hear that music echoing in her mind as she went through her everyday life. Even the short call from Sergeant Carson did little to distract her. Haruka sat before the grand piano for hours, playing different tunes but always coming back again to this one simple tune.

'I think its time I went back to see those places again, mom.' She thought as her grandmother called her to dinner.


	3. Leaving it all Behind

**Dedication: Please bear with me here. This chapter is dedicated to my mother, Linda L. D., who passed away on June 30th eleven years ago. May your soul and dad's rest in peace.**

**Chapter 3: Leaving it all Behind**

_Ms Haruka Ten'ou,_

_The committee for the selection of US Army band candidates is pleased to inform you that you have been chosen. You have been awarded your chosen MOS, 63Z (piano), and will be provided with an instrument upon your arrival at AIT._

_Your recruiter can provide more details as to when you will leave and where you will attend BASIC combat training._

_Once again, congratulations._

_Sean Jinkins_

_Head Judge_

Haruka's teal eyes carefully watched the curb numbers as she drove slowly up the winding hillside road. To each side of the road were smaller one and in between those were quiet, well maintained lawns. The view as she neared the top was amazing, the last hill having a view showing the waterfront of a small reservoir lake even through the light hazy fog of California. Slowly she pulled up to the upper most lawn, parking near the top on the upper road. She climber quietly from the car and began her search.

Haruka looked again at the curb number, starting exactly on the yellow blockish mark as she carefully watched the ground. No houses or buildings dotted the scenery, and the few visitors in the distance were far off and wrapped up in their own respectful quiet. The young blonde carefully avoiding treading on any of the graves as she counted rows across and down, finally she came to a stop before a granite marker bearing her mother's name. Slowly she sank to her knees, taking a small pack from her shoulder as she did so.

"Hello Mom, I know you weren't Japanese and that I have forgotten more about the customs than I will every remember but please excuse me for following what I can." That said Haruka pulled a small, wooden inscent burner from the pack, opening a compartment on the side to retrieve an inscent. She slowly and carefully placed the burner and lit the inscent, blowing it out, as it turned orange. She bowed her head, the scented smoke circling around her in the breeze as she prayed silently.

"You might be wondering why I'm here today mom. After all, it isn't a holiday or birthday or the day you died." Haruka paused as she looked up to the gravestone, sitting with her legs beneath her and her feet pointed behind her. She pulled a copy her acceptance letter from her pants pocket before gently placing it in the flower cup of the grave. "I've been accepted into the US Army band, and they granted me a station in Japan. I know there were reasons we left, but I'd like very much to see it again with my own eyes and get to know my father's homeland a bit better. I may not really learn anything about it, but I will at least have a chance."

"And I also came to say goodbye, at least for now mom. It's going to be awhile before I can make it to your gravesite again. They say I will be in Japan for a minimum of three years." Haruka smiled a bit, though sadly as she gently pulled a small bundle of flowers from her pack. "And I remembered to bring you your roses, one white and one red for each year I'll be gone. I know grandma and grandpa always say you were joking when you said you wanted a white rose in spring, and a red in winter but I'll give them to you anyway."

Haruka spent the next few hours by her mother's grave, talking about everything that had happened over the last few months. She would have stayed longer, but the sun was setting and that marked the closing hours of the cemetery. The white guard truck drove past the hill as she walked back to her Mustang, her pack once again slung across one shoulder. She tossed it into the passenger seat as she got in and drove slowly to the gate, noticing that she was the last person out.

"Bye mom, rest in peace." She whispered as she turned out onto the main road again. Her path was set before her, now all she had to do was rise to the challenge. She drove off into the sunset, almost laughing to herself at the symbolism.

Haruka stared out the dark window, gazing at the nighttime scenery, which flew past as the fast moving bus made its way. The bus was old, it seemed to have once served as a school bus, but each person sat in his or her own seat. Sitting in the darkness, trees flashing past the windows, you could hear light whispering from others toward the front. Voices sounded excited, scared, impatient and unsure all at the same time. As Haruka continued to gaze out the window she slowly noticed how the streetlights became less and less frequent, the darkness seeming to wish to swallow the bus entirely.

Finally they reached a checkpoint and a guard in a combat uniform waved them through. As the pasted a lit sign which read, "Welcome to Fort Jackson, Victory Starts Here" the whispering became faster and more excited. Haruka wrapped one hand around the strap of her backpack and turned her attention toward the front of the bus. The bus came into a pool of light and pulled to a stop, the door hissing slightly as it opened. For a moment everything was silent, no one moved or spoke. Then someone entered the bus.

At the front of the isle stood a tall, imposing figure wearing a green hat resembling that of a Monty and a pair of combat clothes. His face was hidden in shadows as the light spilled through the windows behind him. "Privates, you have five seconds to un-ass my bus, MOVE!" And with that he was back out side.

Everyone stood a scrambled out the door of the bus, stumbling down its steps and forming into two lines as they were yelled at. Finally all the young men were lined up on one side, all the women on the other and the drill sergeant was stalking in between the two lines. He glared at them, watching each as he passed and taking in how they stood and regarded the space around them.

"Count off!" He yelled, and at first heard nothing as everyone jumped. He growled deep in his throat and yelled again. "Now!"

The lead male started, each behind him taking a number even as the drill sergeant counted to himself. They were off by one, so he made them 'drop'. All the males were now on the pavement in the start position of a push up, waiting as he made the woman count. One woman missed her number, and now Haruka found that her line was also staring at the pavement.

"Well damn privates, I thought they at least taught you how to count." The drill sergeant berated them. He still stalked up and down between the two lines. "Recover! Now, do it again and get it right this time."

This time they did it right, and even then Haruka knew this wasn't even the start of BASIC; it was just another stop on the way.


	4. Victory Tower

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Haruka Ten'ou or the US military, though I think that should go with out saying. I am making no money from this story. **It should be noted that the US military has nothing to do with this story and that this does not reflect the views of the US Army.**

**Chapter 4: Victory Tower**

Somewhere overhead large speakers blared to life and a prerecorded bugle trumpeted the start of a new day. With the sun yet to peak over the horizon the lights in the large bay room snapped on and a drill sargeant entered, yelling out comments in his usual barking tone. Female recruits began their morning routines with quick movements. One short hair blonde woman peeked over the edge of her bunk before rolling off it and onto the floor. She made quick work of unlocking her wall locker and grabing what she needed to get ready for the morning. A quick jog to the latrine, more like a larger version of a high school bathroom, and she stood before one of the eight sinks combing out her hair with fast strokes.

Clad in white sneakers, black shorts and gray t-shirts, which read 'ARMY' across their chests the recruits of her platoon assembled out side. Forty-eight young men and women stood in Haruka's formation, about one hundred and fifty made three more small formations as the drill sergeants came outside. As they did each morning they marched down to the grassy field near their barracks and spread out their lines. Two drill sergeants stood on an old wooden platform while others wandered around the recruits correcting any mistakes.

"Front leaning rest posistion!" Yelled Drill Sergeant Winge. He waited for each recruit to perform the quarter turn required. "MOVE!" And two hundred young man and women practically fell on their faces as they came into a push-up posistion. So the day started. The recruits went through the exercises as Winge called them out, performing each one with out complaint. As the sun came up all were sweating and the vast majority were sorely wishing for breakfast.

"Get those arms up, Private!" Drill sargeant Kelly yelled to another private as they did the 'military press'. The exercises were not the hardest Haruka had ever seen, however the amount of time and speed they wanted them at pushed all the recruits to their limits and still the Drill Sergeants wanted more. Finally at 0700 DS Winge decided to start cool down stretches. By 0730 Haruka found herself with a washcloth in front of a sink again. She wiped the sweat off as best she could, going through the routine of brushing her teeth and putting on deodorant quickly.

"Man this is killer." Someone said as they entered the latrine. She came to the sink next to Haruka's, as she got ready for breakfast. "Morning Ten'ou."

"Morning Reed, this isn't so bad. They haven't asked for anything we can't do yet." Haruka replied with a cocky grin as she walked toward the main bay room.

"Yeah, just the stuff that makes us too tired to move!" Reed called out to the retreating form. Haruka stifled a laugh as she entered the bay room in her combat uniform. She quickly locked her hygiene kit in her wall locker and grabber a pair of combat boots from beneath her rack. She was finishing lacing them up as DS Beck entered the room. He was an older man with an almost kind look to him, until you pissed him off. The former Army Ranger seemed to be in an okay mood today however, calling out a reminder to be outside in three minutes as he walked into the Drill sergeants' office. Haruka shook her head as she heard scampering feet running across the floor.

She stepped out into the daylight, quickly positioning her forest camouflage cap on top of her short blonde hair and making sure the bill of it was two fingers above her nose. A few of the males and considerably less of the females already waited in their squads. As Haruka was walking over to her formation a hurried brunette, private DeMarco, jogged past and handed her a bright orange vest. With a sigh she pulled the vest over her head and took a corner spot in the formation. DeMarco always had a hard time finding volunteers to be road guards.

"Fall in!" The platoon guide started yelling, hoping to be first in line to the dining facility this morning. Most of the platoon was now running out of the bay, racing other platoons hoping to get to eat first. The life of a BASIC training private revolved around work, food and letters from home. Haruka only received mail from two people, her grandparents, so she had one less thing to worry about most of the time.

Finally assembled the privates made a somewhat intimidating appearance. Forty-eight people, all in forest combat uniforms with hats covering their eyes and heavy black combat boots strapped to their feet. Drill sargeant Kelly, a tall white man with a shaven head and an often-angered look, stood before them all counting each private. He paused, glanced at the other three platoons that were not his, then shrugged and called out for them to move out. March to breakfast was just long enough for a cadence, and so DS Kelly made them sing. (AN: Yes, they do sing while marching to breakfast, and yes this is a real cadence. If you want to know about cadence feel free to email me and I'll give you what information I can.)

"The Army Colors!" He called out, and the platoon mimicked him in a loud unison shout like a collection of singing voices. "The army colors!" " The colors are RED." "The colors are red." "To show the world." "To show the world." "The blood we've shed." "The blood we've shed!" "Left your left right!" "Left your left right!" "Left right your left." "Left right your left." "Left your left your right, now get in step!" "Left your left your right, now get in step!"

"The Army Colors!" "The Army Colors!" "The colors are white." "The colors are white." "The colors are white." "The colors are white." "We're fit to fight." "We're fit to fight!" "Left your left right!" "Left your left right!" "Left right your left." "Left right your left." "Left your left your right, your out of sight!" "Left your left your right, your out of sight!"

"The Army Colors!" "The Army Colors!" "The colors are blue!" "The colors are blue!" "To show the world." "To show the world." "That we are true!" "That we are true!" "Left right oh left, right oh left right left." At this point, the cadence over, the platoon fell silent as DS Kelly brought them up to the entrance of the hallway. "Platoon, HALT!"

DS Kelly gave responsibility over to the platoon guide who quickly had them all filing into a line to wait for the doors to open. Haruka and the four other road guards removed their vests and folded them until they into a side pocket, only showing a small tab of bright orange. The line was some times mind numbing. You would stand at the posistion of parade rest with out speaking. When the line would move, you would come to attention, then move a few steps, and then assume parade rest again. Parade Rest meant your arms were behind your back; your legs shoulder length apart and your head and eyes trained forward with out moving.

Meals were nothing like school. Most schools you hardly saw the teachers at lunch and they didn't want to deal with you. Drill sergeants however were always present. At meals they would observe you, make sure you stayed silent. When the final platoon member sat down you were given three minutes to finish and be out the door. Haruka had also noticed the first day that throwing away food was not an option. The Drill sergeants had mad ea private push for trying to throw away an uneaten apple. Yes this was a whole world apart.

The Carolinian sun blazed overhead as the privates lined up in the dirt near Victory Tower. Over one hundred and sixty young recruits took off their hats tossing the contents of their pockets in, followed by their dog tags. Haruka stood in her row tucking her BDU (Battler Dress Uniform) top into her pants as a drill sergeant yelled out names and sent privates off to start the course. Finally her turn Haruka walked in a group of six recruits over to the first area.

"Here you will learn to properly make a rope harness, do it right and you will go onto the mini wall, do it wrong and you will do it again." Said a Drill Sargeant who rubbed at his temple as if having a perpetual headache. He called out instructions at a stead pace and Haruka and most of her companions kept up well. They were sent off to the mini wall, a wall only as tall as a house that was a scaled down version of the repelling wall. A drill sergeant stood atop this wall instructing privates in how to properly walk down the wall. As they went through most were bored and now just wanted to get the day over with.

Haruka grinned as she finally reached the tower itself. Victory Tower was easily as tall as a four-story building, maybe higher, and was constructed as one large obstacle course. First Haruka jogged over to a knotted rope that hung against one wall of the structure. Like all the other privates she braced her combat boots against the wall and held the rope tight. With the support of the rope she walked up the wall, dropping to her hands and knees at the top as instructed. She crawled in a long line of privates toward the actually repelling wall. Finally reaching it Haruka had to smile.

"Looking forward to this part, were you private?" Asked the Drill Sergeant that was hooking a line to her harness and helping her onto the ledge.

"Yes Drill Sargeant!" Haruka responded, half from eagerness and half because it was expected of her. The Drill Sargeant just grinned evilly at her.

"L-shape, Ten'ou." She eased into the 'L-shape' they were instructed to use. This put Haruka's boot soles against the wall while she bent forward with her face staring at the wall. She felt as if she were sitting on a very odd swing. "Now you have two ways you can do this private. First, you can walk backward all the way down, or option two, you push off from the wall and give your rope a little slack, then lock breaking hand. Two or three of those will get you down."

Haruka braced herself as she stepped back from the edge, looked once at the safety person holding the end of her line, then pushed off from the wall. She swung out, arching back toward the wall and impacting with the bottoms her combat boots. Letting her knees bend a bit she got ready to do it again, people on the ground were yelling for her to more careful but one look at that Drill Sergeant showed a huge grin plastered on the man's face. In three short bounds Haruka was down the wall and disconnecting her line. After quickly untying the rope harness she jogged toward the small tower, which was next in line on the course.

This tower was half the height of Victory Tower with no repelling wall. Climbing up onto the platform one could see three different types of ropes running from one side to the other. The first was a rope bridge consisting of three thin taught cords and a few lines, which connected those into a triangle. Haruka waited her turn and stepped out onto the first rope bridge. One hand held onto each upper rope while her feet were careful laid one before the other on the third. Walking along this bridge on its incline and coming toward a level on Victory Tower just below the repelling wall Haruka could make out another drill sergeant. He was sitting next to the next rope, a thick strong cord large enough to wrap both hands around, and shaking it mercilessly until privates feel into the safety net ten feet below. Warnings were called out to hit the net in an L shape again.

The Drill Sergeant smiled as Haruka approached him and gestured toward the rope. With only a little caution Haruka quickly got onto the rope, hanging upside down in a "commando crawl" posistion and locked her legs at the ankle. With her head pointed toward the lower side she quickly began to pull herself along the rope hoping to catch the DS off guard. It seemed to work because the rope didn't shake until was half way along, but unlike her fellow soldier she'd watch stop and clutch the rope tightly Haruka only increased her speed. Ignoring the "wind" which made the rope swing increasingly strong she kept pulling toward the shorter tower. A female Drill Sergeant on the lower tower began to yell something but Haruka was far to concentrated on her hands to think about what. Just as her hand contacted the wood of the platform a final strong jerk sent Haruka falling into the netting below.

"Grab my hand Ten'ou. Come on privates lets pull her up." Came the voice of the female DS and Haruka grabbed the hand, which was held out to her. With the help of the DS and two privates they pulled her back out of the net Haruka was ready to repeat it like everyone who fell had done. She was stopped by the DS grabbing her shoulder and pointing instead to the third bridge. "You touched the tower before you fell, go do that one now Ten'ou."

Haruka walked over and regarded the third bridge while she waited in line. It looked a lot like the first one, but cut in half. What this meant was that this bridge consisted of only two thin ropes with a few extremely thin support lines holding them four feet apart. It was slanted a little to one side but shifted back and fourth with weight. A number of privates fell off while trying to move a foot or out surprise when it shifted suddenly in their hands. Haruka's turn came and she stepped out placing her booted feet on one line and her leather-gloved hands on the other. She stopped a moment as it shifted under her weight and slanted her backward so that if she let go she fall again into the netting. With a confident grin Haruka began to walk sideways along the rope bridge, again coming up to that second level of Victory Tower and getting back onto the solid wood surface. Someone grabbed her arm and pulled her down to all four again before having her peak over the nearest wall. A cargo netting, similar to something you'd see on an extremely old pirate ship ran half way down this wall, then stopped. Placed below the netting was a large padding colored a bright blue, it looked like what stun men jumped to for movie scenes.

"You climb down until there's no more netting, then you yell your platoon name and let go. Fall backward and that guy back there will make sure you don't roll off the padding onto your head. Got it?"

Haruka nodded and climbed out onto the netting. Realizing this was the last part of the tower she almost wanted to slow down and enjoy it more. Haruka had to admit that the whole tower felt like the worlds best playground to her, even if her platoon mates were mostly screaming in fear of falling all over. She reached the bottom and yelled out in loudest voice before releasing her grip on the cargo net. Falling backward flat on her back into the padding she nearly flipped off of it until two hands got her by the shoulders.

"Okay there?" Asked the private who'd stopped her from meeting the asphalt, which sat beneath the padding. She nodded and he pointed over toward an area with a wooden roof and a food line going. "Lunch is here, good over to the line and get something to eat, then fall in on your gear."

**Author's Note:**

Its done! That chapter gave me more problems than I can explain, and it was originall going to be the only BASIC training chapter but now I think there will be roughly three BCT chapters. (BCT is BASIC combat training) It took a while before I could decide how much of BASIC I wanted to explain for a number of reasons. The first of these reasons is, if you ever join, I don't think BASIC has the same effect if you know what to expect and I don't want to be at fault for someone not getting a full benefit from BCT. Other things were the fact that I also think a play by play of everything in BCT while interesting to me would be boring to a fair amount of readers. And of course the final, and possibly most important, I do NOT wish to release any information about military training which you could not receive from a local recruiter.

The realism in here should be as correct as I can make it, but I apoligize for leaving out some of the details I would normally put into my stories. For specific reasons I will not even give names to most Drill Sargeants, will make fake names for the others, and will not mention details about where the parts of the training take place. For instance mentioning Victory Tower but not where the Tower is located or what is or is not around it. I actually am somewhat tempted to skip BCT all together but the parts I have chosen to explain are often shown in recruitment videos or discussed by privates on their first leave with family. If you notice anything where you think I am giving too much detail, or that you think is in someway a glaring error, please point it out in the review box and I will fix it.


	5. Victory Forge Day One

**Author's note: **Finally I return to this story. I took a break from it while writing TMD because of the differences in the two stories. The problem with this is that I had another chapter written, but it was on the other computer that I can't retrieve things from. (Sighs a bit) Also, I know I'd said there'd be three BCT chapters, but most likely this will be the last one. I am on a bit of a time constraint to finish this story and haven't even gotten to what I think of as the real plot.

**Chapter 5: Victory Forge day one**

Haruka again adjusted her grip on her rifle, feeling the somehow comforting weight of her ruck sack as she moved her feet at a steady pace. A glance forward and to her left reassured her that her battle buddy was still in place in the staggered formation. A long dirt road stretched for an unknown distance before them, trees the diameter of a baseball reached up to the sky along the roadside and covered their views. The entire company, two hundred or more privates, were in full "battle rattle" with their rifles, Kevlar helmets, camouflage face paint, L.C.E.s, and three canteens as they marched along the dust road. The young blonde wasn't sure how long they'd been marching, only that the sun which hadn't yet peaked over the horizon was nearing the center of the sky.

The signal was given to halt and the privates took to the sides of the road, taking a knee and aiming outward into the woods. Haruka scanned the area with her teal eyes until the water truck stopped next to her. She glanced to her right and there was DeMarco pulling out two canteens from their belt pouches. She glanced at Haruka with deep brown eyes and the blonde wordlessly removed and tossed her an empty canteen. DeMarco grinned and slung her rifle before walking off to refill the green plastic containers.

Nothing moved in the bushes before them, nothing large anyway. The sounds of birds and small animals could be made out at a distance, crickets chirped now and then and the trees gave the air a damp, humid feel. Haruka felt the cool, moist dirt under her knee and listened as DeMarco returned, depositing a now full canteen before the blonde. Haruka waited until DeMarco took up watching the perimeter and took the chance to take a drink from the canteen. She'd barely managed a sip when a loud gun shot broke the silence, the distinct sound of an M-16 putting them all on guard and sending Drill sergeants into a frenzy to find the source. Everyone dropped to their bellies, rifles still trained on the woods and waited for orders.

"Who fired that?" One drill sergeant growled to himself as he passed, glancing once at the two but continuing on. Haruka and DeMarco focused on the tree line even as drill sergeants and officers jogged up and down the rows.

"Misfire! Misfire!" A voice crackled over a near by radio and caused the blonde to glance up, catching sight of the company Chaplin standing not far behind them. He smiled kindly as the radio crackled again. "Private Vergas had a 'mishap' with his rifle. We're clear, get them up and let's move."

"That was interesting." Chaplin Peters replied as Haruka and DeMarco arose along with the others. They were given the hand signal and again started to march toward an unknown location ahead. Peters marched along the center of the formation with a pack as large as any of the private's own and his Kevlar bearing captain's bars. He continued to smile as he regarded the young blonde next to him. "Are you worried about Victory Forge?"

"A little, sir." Haruka replied honestly and DeMarco nodded as well as she eyed the trees to their right. Haruka thought for a moment before she spoke again. "I'm not sure what to expect."

"Rain private!" Barked Drill Sergeant Kelly as he caught up on the Chaplin's left. Peters smiled as Kelly glared at the two privates in the manner a stern parent would. "It always rains at Victory Forge, at least one day out of every trip. I can't wait to see you grunts dealing with the mud from inside a foxhole."

"I wouldn't worry too much." Chaplin Peters said to the two as Kelly seemed to be daydreaming as they marched. "Just use what they've taught you and you'll be fine."

"Yes, let's see how well you two remember." Kelly said as he eyed Haruka in particular. "Just remember Ten'ou, you may be my top runner but that isn't going to help you much for the next three days."

"Yes, drill sergeant." Haruka replied as the two men started further up the staggered formation. DeMarco was grinned behind Haruka's back, the standard distance back that made private conversation between the two impossible. Somehow, Haruka knew with out looking, that her odd platoon mate was loving every minute of this.

The march took until roughly 1200 hours, turning on various small roads and pausing for water or "latrine" visits. At each stop the left was the female latrine, the right trees were the male latrine. Haruka was glad when they arrived at the forge and she found out they had portable latrines. Haruka could use the tree line if need be, but hadn't looking forward to it. The forge was a number of hills and a ridge line inside a somewhat dense wooded area. Three companies were using it on this given Field Training Exercise but Haruka couldn't make out any sign of the others.

"Alright, now I'll assign you a space and you start digging your foxholes, clear?" DS Kelly asked as he eyed them all.

"Yes, drill sergeant!" Came the instant reply and he shook his head at them.

"So, you dig first or I dig first?" DeMarco asked as they heard the order for fifty percent security.

"I'll dig." Haruka said as she took off her Kevlar helmet and grabbed her e-tool from her ruck sack after she'd placed it on the ground. Taking the e-tool, a small black folding shovel, the blonde drew the outline of where she needed to dig, and then replaced her Kevlar. Dust covered the edges of the camouflage cloth on her helmet from being used to measure, but she ignored it and began to dig.

It was easily an hour later when two male privates walked up to the small and shallow start of a foxhole carrying a large shovel and their own rifles. Haruka looked up as one playfully tapped her helmet.

"Drill Sergeant Stonewall wants you." He said and pointed toward an area where the trees were just a little thicker. "He should be over there some where. Don't worry about the foxhole; we'll dig it out for you two."

"Thanks." Haruka hopped out of the hole and set down her shovel, picking up her rifle instead and fastening the Kevlar helmet under her chin. She walked across a small dirt path, into a clump of trees and found another private standing next to some odd versions of shelter half tents. He grinned at her.

"Hey Ten'ou, any clue what we're doing here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, King." Haruka turned toward a sound as she finished speaking. Out of the trees came two more males and another young woman. Before a new round of greetings and questions could start though a tall dark skinned Drill Sergeant emerged from the opposite side of the trees. They all snapped to parade rest and Drill Sergeant Stonewall smiled.

"Here they are Beck." He called and soon an older white Drill Sergeant emerged from the trees as well. He eyed them in his somewhat faded battle dress uniform, and Haruka caught sight again of the battle patch on his shoulder. If she were a civilian she'd never know, but that patch meant he'd seen combat as part of the Airborne Rangers.

"Looks like everyone's here." Beck muttered than waved them to follow him. "We're going for a hike, no one get lost."

They disappeared into the denser trees which surrounded their encampment, walking in a sort of wedge formation and creeping as quietly as they could over the leaves and twigs. Each held rifles ready as they silently followed. Drill Sergeant Beck had finally told them they were on a patrol of the area, so they were all watching for anything beside themselves.

The sun set and the trees were silent, though it seemed as if they were too silent. No crickets' chirped, no small woodland animals, nothing besides there own steps and breathing. Beck held up a closed fist and they halted. No one spoke as all eyes scanned the terrain about them. Suddenly a sort of fizzling was heard and a brilliant light lit the night sky above. Training took over and every one closed one eye and looked toward the ground, listening for anything nearby.

"Move!" Drill Sergeant Beck bellowed and they took off through the trees in the direction he'd pointed. They ran, full "battle rattle" suddenly making since as their equipment clicked and clinked together and their rifles rattled. Haruka grabbed another private's arm as she began to fall back and pulled her along until they emerged back into the same place they'd left. Drill Sergeant Stonewall grinned at them and told them all to take a knee.

"Not bad privates, not bad." He said as Drill Sergeant Beck emerged from the trees behind them. The older man seemed to be satisfied with the exercise. "Head back to your foxholes and get you're shelter halfs set up. Make sure you get some rest because someone will come to wake you when it's time for your guard shift."

As Haruka reached her foxhole she was happily surprised to find the small two person tent already set up. She crawled inside and raised a barely visible eyebrow at DeMarco who was stretched out on top of her sleeping bag using her Kevlar helmet as a pillow. DeMarco was in her combat boots, the wrists of her uniform cinched tight under leather work gloves, her uniform buttoned all the way up rather than leaving the last undone as per regulation and Haruka could make out red ear plugs just inside her ears.

"What are you doing?" Haruka asked as she pulled off her own boots and socks. The blonde took a bottle of foot powder DeMarco offered and nodded her thanks. She ditched her Load Carrying Equipment to her left, between the two women and pulled off her top shirt.

"Sleeping, I'm not gonna make it easy for the bugs to get to me." DeMarco responded as if it were the easiest thing in the world. She cinched her rifles shoulder strap around her wrist, Haruka did the same and they both settled back down. After a few moments of silence in the tent DeMarco spoke again. "Hey Ten'ou, is your family going to come see you graduate?"

"No, the only ones around are my grandparents and it's a bit too long of a trip for them." Haruka sighed as she thought back a bit on the year or so she'd lived with them. She looked at DeMarco. "What about yours?"

"No, most of them I think are a bit glad I'm gone." DeMarco's tone was downcast for the first time Haruka could recall. It wasn't that the young woman was always cheerful, more that she always kept a hyper, ready for anything especially a good joke, type of air about her. The dark haired soldier grinned again, seeming to not want to stay in the down cast mode and stared at the ceiling. "Just two more days, and then we're done. Not counting recovery."

"Yeah, almost there DeMarco."

**AN:**

**I never really thought I'd be recalling this stuff to use in a fan fiction… I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will do my best to get the entire chapter out before I disappear, but I do only have a month. Wish me luck.**


	6. Victory Forge Day Three

**Chapter 6: Victory Forge Day Three**

Dawn was breaking over the horizon casting a pink glow across the sky. Haruka did her best to ignore the small misquotes which were making a meal out of her hands as she leaned into the corner of her fox hole, scanning the tree line before her. Twice a day, sunrise and sunset, they went to 100 security. Everyone was in a foxhole or on their bellies with rifles focused on the perimeter. Everyone was ready and waiting.

It looked as though things were going to be quiet, as they were the pervious morning. Teal eyes caught movement just outside Haruka's field of vision and she risked a glance toward her right, what she saw though made her eyes widen. Drill Sergeant Stonewall held a CS canister, better known as tear gas. As she took a second look he was sending it arching into the sky just over her own foxhole.

"Gas, gas, gas!" She yelled out of instinct, DeMarco repeating her as they ducked slightly into the foxhole. Haruka quickly pulled her mask from the pouch on her hip, placing it against her face and pulling the straps over her hair with practiced speed. In moments the hood was safely in place and she was looking down her M-16's sight through the goggles of the protective gas mask. A glance to her left showed that DeMarco also had her mask on, that amazed Haruka as her platoon mate had failed every test they'd had regarding quickly donning the masks.

"MOP gear now." Someone ordered behind them and the two soon found themselves pulling on the bulky outer suits, gloves and rubber boots which were to protect them from chemical attacks. DeMarco didn't seem to be at ease in the suit, and to be honest neither was Haruka. The mask itself pressed tightly against the wearer's face and if you weren't carefully you could fog the goggles and blind yourself. One of their platoon mates had nearly gone into a panic attack the first time they donned the masks.

"Drill Sergeant is coming this way." DeMarco whispered from her left, leaning against the other corner of the foxhole. "You don't think they'd do mail call out here do you?"

"I don't know, I think they do in a real combat zone though." Haruka muttered back just as the Drill Sergeant started to pass them. For a moment Haruka thought she'd been heard, as the drill sergeant turned back to their whole and regarded them.

"Ten'ou, DeMarco! Is that you?" She snapped as she peered at them and the two looked toward her but kept their rifles trained toward the tree line. "Get out of that hole and come with me."

With out another word she turned and started off as they scrambled out of the five foot deep hole. Haruka watched DeMarco, the other private seemed hyper about whatever duty they'd just been chosen for. It was, to Haruka anyway, both funny and sad how DeMarco hid disappointment at finding they'd been chosen for food detail. While this wasn't actually an official name for any duty, someone did have to pass out the MREs.

"Meals Ready to Eat, ah how I love them!" Private King said as Haruka handed him a random large brown package. He smiled and winked at DeMarco. "Can I talk you out of an extra for your old buddy, De?"

"You'll find a way to get extra anyhow, here you go." DeMarco handed him a second one and the young man's face lit up. He dug in as the two continued about the circular battle line with their brown boxes full of MREs. DeMarco sighed as they passed out the MREs, most people not greeting the food with quite the eager joy that King had. "We only have today and half of tomorrow left, I want a chance to do something."

"Not counting handing out food and digging holes right?" Haruka questioned with a smile she hoped would at least cheer the normally hyper private.

"Right." DeMarco wasn't the one to answer though and they nearly dropped the boxes they were carrying only to find their platoon guide standing behind them. She grinned in a not quite friendly manner at the two and grabbed an MRE. "Since you two are some of my favorites, I'll pick you then. Go straight to see Drill Sergeant Stonewall after you finish with this."

"We're not her favorites." DeMarco muttered as they watched the PG walk away.

"I think that's the point, DeMarco."

DeMarco did however get her wish, as they found out not long later. They knelt along with thirteen or so more privates and listened to DS Stonewall as he described how they were going to perform a mock raid on an "enemy" entrenchment. The enemy had dug in at the top of a hill with about one squad; they were going to charge the hill with their own squad. Sounds simple, but wasn't as simple as it sounded.

Three privates were assigned to check the area for bobby traps once they reached the top of the hill, they were given a crash course to refresh their memories. Two were assigned to swept foxholes and prisoners or bodies, once declared safe, for documents or other import things they might posses. Two were given a radio and instructed again on how to properly call in the report. The remaining eight or so, including Haruka and DeMarco, were assigned to secure the area and split into a fore and rear unit. Haruka landed in the front, due to her run speed.

They marched quietly in a large circle, bringing them to with in eyesight of the hill in question. DS Stonewall ordered them to low crawl, pulling their bodies across the ground with their heads down and rifles dragging beside them. They weren't far, nearly at the edge of the hill, when the first shot rang out. A single order yelled by Stonewall had all the privates on their feet and running toward the nearest trees. One private straggled and was told to lie down, having been declared dead. They charged the hill, running to take shelter behind trees, firing cover for the next few soldiers to run up.

Cresting the hill they found four foxholes and roughly twelve privates from another company. The others wore there tops inside out to represent an enemy uniform and several were lying in positions which suggested they'd been hit by the cover fire. Everyone went quickly about there own jobs, Haruka being left to guard the single "live" prisoner they managed to take. Just as they were searching the last foxhole they turned a male over and found a dummy grenade clipped to his shirt.

"Boom." The young man said in an amused voice. Stonewall yelled and everyone in a ten foot radius, Haruka and her prisoner included, hit the floor and played dead. After a while Stonewall prodded those declared dead with his boot and one by one ordered them down the other side of the hill. Haruka found DeMarco at the bottom; the brown haired young woman grinned happily as they took up kneeling positions and waited. The squad leader radioed in his report, received a confirmation, and they were moving out again.

"When you get back privates, take turns packing your gear and filling in your foxholes." Stonewall announced in a brisk manner. He smiled in a friendly manner but there was an odd glint in his eyes. "We'll be heading back tonight, nine miles to home privates."

It wasn't until they were carrying their duffle bags back to the two ton truck that Haruka noticed the first signs of a problem with DeMarco. As she watched she noticed that the other private seemed to be bouncing on her feet, yet instead of seeming happy or hyper she almost seemed to be dreading each step. Again Haruka thought of the other's private's usual attitude, bouncing off the walls one moment and in the next falling into a quiet concentration on whatever she was doing.

"Something wrong DeMarco?" She asked after they placed their bags in the truck and retrieved there ruc sacks. Brown eyes snapped toward the blonde and DeMarco seemed surprised by the question.

"Nothing important."

"What's not important?"

"Just some blisters, nothing big."

"On which foot." Haruka said, stopping the other young woman before they reached the platoon's formation area.

"Both, but it'll be fine really." DeMarco looked up as another young woman walked over. Private Reed stopped in front of them and looked between the two, then focused on her battle buddy with questioning eyes. DeMarco looked down at all the focus now placed on her. "I'll be fine."

"Maybe you should get the medic to take a look at those blisters before they leave." Haruka suggested but DeMarco shook her head with a determined look.

"Oh not this again." Reed sighed and gave DeMarco an exasperated look. "DeMarco, don't you think you should be over your fear of doctors by now?"

"I am not afraid of doctors; I just don't like seeing them unless I need to." DeMarco defended herself and received another look from her battle buddy and Haruka. A drill sergeant yelled at the three and Reed jumped.

"Fine, you win for now. If we don't fall in they're probably going to have our heads." Reed said as she turned to lead the way. As they fell in with the others Haruka found her self standing again across from Private Tanner, her own buddy, and in front of DeMarco.

"Move out!" Stonewall yelled and they began to march forward at a good pace. Starting a nine mile march wasn't hard though, the true test of course was to finish said march. The wore on, they stopped a few times for water but for the most part the march pressed on at a quick pace. DeMarco seemed to be growing more pained with each half mile. Soon Haruka found that the Platoon Guide was yelling at DeMarco during a water break for falling back into the next platoon. One of the male privates commented that DeMarco was in pain, only to be glared at.

"Do I need to put you on the truck, private?" Drill Sergeant Stonewall asked in what sounded like concern.

"No Drill Sergeant." DeMarco replied instantly, though a little strain leaked through her voice. She was told to take a spot in front of Haruka this time. As they started moving again teal eyes carefully watched as DeMarco tried to force herself not to limp. She began to slow down, biting her lip to keep from making some sort of sound. As she came even with Haruka the blonde grabbed her arm and kept her even.

"What's wrong?" Haruka asked, looking at DeMarco and not noticing how Drill Sergeant Beck snuck up on the two.

"It feels like my feet are bleeding." DeMarco said, this time she couldn't hide the strain in her voice. Tanner was looking at the two with concern even as Beck made himself known.

"What makes you think that private?" He asked in a stern voice.

"It just feels like it, Drill Sergeant." DeMarco bit her lip again, something having made the pain momentarily worse. She shook it off and spoke again. "My feet feel wet all over and they're burning where it feels worst."

"Hot spots private, they'll be blisters by morning." Beck said as he shot them a look that showed he didn't want to hear anymore about it as he started away. "Keep your feet moving and this will be done before you know it."

"Don't worry; the company is twelve miles away so the last three we get a few buses." They looked up and found it was the assistant platoon guide speaking to them. He was a tall man with a build that tended to make people assume he was tough, in all honesty though he was one of the nicest people in the platoon. "Once we get there you'll be able to rest your feet."

DeMarco only nodded and seemed to double her efforts to stay in step. Haruka became more concerned, as did Tanner and Reed, as the march continued. The sun set behind the trees and still they marched. They found out at a stop that the company commander had decided to have them march the last three miles, saying they were making such good time. DeMarco was looking worse with each step now, the APG having actually taken hold of her Load Carrying Equipment and forced her to keep pace at least twice now. She fell back a number of times, only to be brought all the way to the front by a Drill Sergeant each time.

As they reached a small hill DeMarco was no longer able to keep at least some pained sounds from escaping her. Haruka, Reed and Tanner all but begged Drill Sergeant Beck to pull the young woman from the march, but were told there was only a mile left now and she'd be forced to repeat the entire thing. So they all, meaning the whole platoon, did their best to keep the young woman on her feet. They kept telling her not much was left, pulled her along if they had too. When the lights of the company area came into view and they came back onto a paved road in sight of the barracks a halt was called. They were formed up and Reed, Tanner, Haruka and DeMarco were placed at the front of each squad.

"Listen to me DeMarco, this is almost over." Beck all but growled quietly to the young woman as they watched other companies unloading from buses. "We are going to march past the other companies and back to the barracks, and you aren't going to embarrass your platoon. I want you to suck it up, I don't want to hear a sound out of you and you better not dare fall behind. Is that clear?"

DeMarco nodded and the man left her alone to speak with the other drill sergeants. Haruka was in the next squad and glanced at the young woman, watching as DeMarco washed all pain from her face. She schooled her appearance into a look which betrayed no emotion but in her brown eyes you could see it all. In the young woman's eyes were fatigue, pain and oddly determination. Haruka glanced to her right instead and received a nod from Reed, the other woman seeming to somehow understand what her strange battle buddy was up to. Haruka had the feeling that DeMarco was biting her own tongue to keep from saying or doing anything wrong.

They started forward and DeMarco acted as if nothing was out of the normal. She kept in step; eyes forward and only sparing a glance to her right to make sure the others were still in place. They'd put DeMarco at the pace point so that everyone was guiding off the young woman. They marched past the other companies with out incident, finally passing into their own company area and falling in. As they were hidden from sight of the other companies they saw DeMarco's mask start to break. They were ordered to take off their helmets and empty their pockets into them. A Drill Sergeant came around, making sure no one had smuggled empty shells or unused blanks back with them.

"DeMarco!" Beck called from the doorway of their barracks. "Grab a battle buddy and get in here."

DeMarco glanced back as she picked up her helmet, finding Reed hadn't been checked yet. Haruka stepped over and followed the other soldier back to the bay room. Drill Sergeant Beck placed a folding chair down and ordered the private to sit and removed her boots. As she did Haruka caught on that the thick black wool socks they all wore were soaked through. A moment later she was told to remove those as well. DeMarco pulled off the first sock and Haruka felt her own stomach lurch. The second was no better and even Beck winced as he looked at how DeMarco's feet were covered in blood.

"Go rinse your feet off in the shower, put on some clean socks and your running shoes." He said with a look toward the door. "After that stow your gear and get back outside."

DeMarco stood and grabbed her boots as he left. She walked off toward the back of the bay, passing through a doorway into the latrine, then another into the actual shower room. She handed her boots back to Haruka and the blonde placed them where they wouldn't be hit by the spray. She turned back just as DeMarco turned on the shower, standing where the spray only caught her feet. In a split second DeMarco made another pained sound and fell backward. Haruka was just able to catch her before she hit the ground.

"DeMarco, are you alright?" Reed said, rushing into the shower still in full battle rattle with Tanner a moment behind. DeMarco winced as Haruka helped her back onto her feet and nodded mutely. Reed glanced at the young woman's feet and shook her head. She came over as Haruka turned the water back off, Reed placing her battle's arm over her shoulders. "Let's go get your feet dried off."

That night a ceremony was held for the privates, recognizing them as soldiers. They stood in a field as officers spoke, drill sergeants gave them cards to place on their tags, and they heard the regiment's history. Once it was over they were returned to the barracks where they were allowed showers and sleep. Reed, remembering earlier events, advised DeMarco to wear socks and just throw them in the drier after. Exhausted, the entire platoon was out as soon as they could climb into their bunks.

**AN**

Sorry guys, I have been really tied up recently. Also I am sorry to be rushing through these Basic training chapters but I may be leaving on the twelfth of December, giving me less than a month to finish this story. Now, I'm off to spell check this so it will be ready to post for Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.

Oh, and I am Thankful for my reviewers over the past year. You folks are great and have been a huge help.


	7. Tokyo After Dark

**Quick Dedication:** I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Marah Mitchell, who left three reviews for Truly Madly Deeply on the same day. No I didn't find that crazy, it actually got me to smile when recently I haven't been. Thank you also for pointing out the mistake about "hansom" and "handsome", I'll change it as soon as I remember durning my down time. grins Sad to say I think I have been scatter-brained as of late. I'd love to email but for the fact that due to computer problems I have no access to my email at the moment. Thank you though, and I hope to hear more from you.

**IMPORTANT NOTE: Anything in normal quotes "" is meant to be in English as it reads. If you see something in between these marks though it is meant to be in Japanese. This is partly because my Japanese knowledge is non-existent, and also so that it will still be understandable to anyone who does not speak Japanese.**

**Chapter 7: Japan After Dark**

Saying goodbye to DeMarco, Reed and Tanner was harder then Haruka had expected. DeMarco's family didn't make it to see her graduate, neither did Haruka's grandparents. During family day and graduation day the two were "adopted" by Reed and Tanner's families. So they traveled about the base, and later around a little of the surrounding area, in a large group laughing and sharing stories.

On their last morning, all of the families already on their ways home, the new soldiers quickly packed the last of their gear and brought it outside. They waited in long lines for buses that would take them to new posts or to the air port depending. Haruka found she received a number of hugs, a hand shake and well wishes from one of the Drill Sergeants, and even a few tears out of DeMarco as the odd private grinned at her.

"Take care of yourself Ten'ou." Reed said and jabbed her battle buddy lightly in the ribs. The only response from the other soldier was a denial of the tears and a quick good luck toward Haruka. Reed grinned. "Too bad you aren't a mechanic like us; I'll probably have DeMarco here for another few months."

"Don't cause too much trouble you two, and take care of your feet DeMarco." Haruka said, and then waved as they walked off toward their own line. It wasn't long before Haruka and a few others were packed into an old school bus and driven off toward the air port.

**One year later:**

"Come on Ten'ou, you're Japanese." The young private was practically on her knees before Haruka's bunk as she pressed her hands together and begged her roommate. "You can't spend all your time either at the piano or with that precious car you bought."

"You're Japanese too. Aino, the only reason you want me to go is because your Japanese is horrible and you want me to translate what you're saying for some guy." Haruka commented, not even looking at her blue eyed roommate as she turned another page of the car magazine she was reading. "You should practice some more you know."

"Oh come on cut me some slack." Minako pled, this time actually going onto her knees before her roommate. Haruka ignored it for the most part and just remained in her position lounging on her bunk. "You know I lived in England almost from birth, then America, of course I don't get Japanese. If it'll make you help me we can speak nothing but Japanese in the barracks for a week!"

"You like him that much?" Haruka asked, teal eyes finally looking toward the eighteen year old who was on the polished floor now bowing. Minako's head shot up and she nodded enthusiastically. Haruka sighed and sat up, shaking her head and wishing she wasn't about to do this. "Alright, but make it two weeks."

"Yes!" Minako jumped to her feet and started dancing about the room in happy circles which only caused Haruka to grin. The young woman had been assigned as her new roommate only a month ago and ever since Haruka had never truly seen her down. She stood as Minako seemed ready to start jumping on her own bed or something and stopped the young woman. Blue eyes gave a puzzled look. "What?"

"Planning on going to the club in uniform, or are you going to change soon?" Haruka replied and waved a hand at the combat uniform the girl still wore. Blue eyes went wide and the younger blonde raced for the latrine in record time. Again Haruka shook her head as she unlocked her wall locker and pulled out a set of rarely used civilian clothes. This should be interesting.

Haruka found a parking spot and pulled in confidently when they'd reached the club. The taller blonde turned off the engine and emerged from her black ford mustang and looked across the roof as Minako got out of the other side. The two were opposite as could be at the moment and again "Specialist Ten'ou" began to wonder why she'd agreed to this. Minako straightened a fairly short black skirt, brushed a hand across her black tank top and checked her unbuttoned white shirt for lint as she stepped around the car to Haruka's side. By comparison the taller blonde wore her same short hair style, tan slacks and a black collared button up shirt that was un-tucked. Haruka placed a set of sun glasses over her teal eyes regardless of the fact that it was sunset.

"What was the look for when we got out of the car?" Minako asked as they walked over to the line waiting to be let in. Haruka grinned before answering and Minako poked her in the side. "What are you thinking Ten'ou?"

"Ever seen that Britney Spears video? I think the song was called One More Time or something like that." Haruka responded and fought an even bigger grin as her roommate thought that over.

"What does that have to do with…?" Blue eyes went wide before Minako smacked Haruka's arm and the taller blonde started laughing. Minako glared at her before another thought struck her. "Hey, what are you doing watching Britney Spears videos anyway?"

Welcome to Subspace, right wrist please. A bouncer interrupted them as they reached the door. Each held out their right wrist in turn and a sort of yellowish band was placed around it, as they entered the club the band glowed bright blue under the effects of black lights spread through out. Haruka rook her time to look around the room, taking in the dance floor and its multicolored flashing lights, a DJ booth above which seemed to control the lighting along with the music, a full bar lining the front wall and a few doors which led to other rooms. Minako tugged on her arm and led her over to the bar where she pointed to a young man who was quickly mixing drinks.

"You have a thing for the bar tender?" Haruka asked, eyeing the guy with his nearly black hair and dark blue eyes. He was about the same height, maybe taller than the older blonde. The lighting made it a miracle that Haruka could tell what his eye color was.

"He's cute." Came the simple response, causing Haruka to turn and eye her roommate. The shorter blonde blushed under the scrutiny and explained further. "From what little I could understand he's working here to help get through college. He's about twenty or something."

"Okay then, what exactly do you want me to do?" Haruka asked, not really caring much for how her friend chose crushes.

"Just translate, here he comes." Minako pointed and Haruka turned back to find the guy only a few steps away.

Hey Minako-san, I see you're back. He smiled cheerfully at her and looked toward Haruka with a friendly air. This your boyfriend?

Translator would be a better title. Haruka said and nodded to the man before them, he grinned. I'm Ten'ou Haruka, Aino-san's roommate.

My name is Chiba Mamoru, nice to meet you. Are you American too? Haruka nodded and he grinned. Well your Japanese is great; you should give Minako-san a few lessons.

Oh, Ten'ou-san already promised to help me for the next few weeks. Minako managed, just barely and Haruka smirked. The shorter blonde turned to her and smiled as she went back to English. "Okay, now here's the question I've been trying to ask for weeks but I can never figure out how to say. Does he have a girlfriend?"

"You mean you never asked that?" Haruka saw a shake of Minako's head and sighed as she turned back to the bar tender. Aino-san wanted me to ask if you have a girlfriend.

Actually, yes. She was supposed to come by tonight but I think she's running late like she always does. Minako's head bowed even as she caught most of the answer and Haruka patted her lightly on the shoulder. The shorter blonde sighed heavily before she looked up and spotted something through the crowd and smiled.

"Aw well, more fish in the can right?" Minako said before she saluted Haruka and seemed to just disappear into the crowd. Haruka shook her head but turned back again when she heard a bit of a laugh. Mamoru was laughing with a bright smile on his face; he leaned against the counter as Haruka raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry, it's just that she got over that really quickly." He rubbed his head with one hand. "Should I take that as an insult?"

"No, but when did you start speaking English, Chiba-san?" Haruka questioned, a smirk growing on her own face.

"Well, you see, I always did I was just kind of hoping if I didn't Minako-san wouldn't find a way to ask me out or anything. I didn't really look forward to turning her down since she seems so nice."

"Coward." Haruka replied and the man just grinned and shrugged.

"Guess the term fits." He stood straight and smiled again. "If I give you free drinks tonight can we keep this between us?"

"Fine with me, I think Aino-san is over it anyway." Haruka shook hands with him, and then ordered a coke. Considering she was the driver and still under age as far as the military cared it wasn't a good idea if she had anything alcoholic.

Haruka found a table near the bar and would have been more than happy to spend the remainder of her time just letting the music pound around her, if not for the attention she seemed to attract from some of the young women in the club. For the first time in her life, Haruka almost cursed the fact that so many people mistook her for a male in street clothes.

You're a new face. Haruka looked up and almost jumped backward to find a young blonde woman standing over her with a happy smile on her face. The girl didn't seem to notice and bowed toward her. I'm Tuskino Usagi, what's your name?

I think you might have scared him, Usa-chan. Said a tall brunet from behind the blonde. Green eyes looked over the blonde's shoulder and smiled regretfully. Please don't mind my friend, she's just really friendly. I'm Kino Makoto.

She didn't scare me, just caught me off guard. Haruka smiled to them both and stood to bow. I'm Ten'ou Haruka.

Mind if we join you? Usagi asked hopefully and Makoto looked ready to slap her own forehead. Haruka just grinned and held out a chair for the blonde. Makoto took a seat while Usagi was rambling off to Haruka. So are you new in the area? I haven't seen you around, not even at the club and come here every week at least. My boyfriend works at the bar.

You mean Chiba-san? Haruka asked and received an enthusiastic nod. Haruka grinned at the random occurrences. I'm not really new, but I guess I don't get out all that much really.

What brought you out tonight? Makoto asked in a conversational tone.

My roommate wanted company… Haruka trailed off as she caught sight of Minako arguing with a guy on the dance floor. She stood and bowed a last time to the two young women. Actually, I think I better go check on her. Excuse me.

Haruka made her way onto the dance floor, cutting as close to straight toward her friend as she could. She didn't catch onto to the figure following her because she was a bit too focused on what was going on in front of her.

"Ah, what's the Japanese for hands off?" Minako shouted, almost drowned out by the music as she struggled against a man who was trying to pull her toward a back exit. She slapped at his hands a few times before giving in and just stepping on the man's toes as hard as she could. He cried out but his grip only tightened and Minako minced before she muttered. "That always works in the movies."

"This isn't the movies, Aino." Minako looked up and found Haruka blocking the man's path with a very dangerous look. Minako would swear if looks could kill the man holding her would be burned to ash. "You okay?"

"Yeah, but this guy wont let go and none of that grappling from Basic seems like it's going to work in this skirt." Minako tried to grin at her taller friend and watched Haruka raise one eyebrow.

I don't think she likes you very much. Haruka said to the tall dark haired man before her. He glared but didn't speak, so Haruka took one more step forward. Let go now, and we have no problem.

I don't want to. He replied with a smirk even as Minako's eyes went wide.

"Ten'ou, behind you!" She yelled and Haruka ducked just as someone swung a bottle toward her head. Minako shook her head and muttered again, this time to her self. "And in the movies wouldn't a Japanese club be using martial arts or something?"

Haruka turned to her side, not wanting to take her eyes off the man holding onto Minako and noticed that those on the dance floor seemed to have started pulling back. Inside a ring of people not wanting to be involved stood Haruka, Minako, the man holding her and about four more guys. The first thought in Haruka's mind was that the lighting had probably kept the bouncers from noticing yet; the second was that it didn't really matter as two guys were charging her.

**AN: **First, if I misspelled any names please let me know. I am not as familiar with the spelling of the Japanese names as I'd like to be. This chapter took a while for me to write because I had to write it around six times. I had to major ideas for how two characters were going to meet, and I didn't like how either worked out so I changed it. I actually wasn't going to even use most of the characters but I thought it might be interesting to see if I could include more than I normally do. Suggestions, spelling corrections feed back or even just a "hey I read this" are more than welcome.


	8. Dance Floor Spot Light

**AN: **I know I have been following Haruka a lot, so just a warning… I am going to start following the other characters here and there as well. I love writing with Haruka as the main, but I want to move some of the others more visibly too. Also I am using the American name of one character just so you know it isn't an error. I wanted that person placed in the military and I thought it weird if all the characters Haruka interacts with on post have Japanese names. You'll see who I mean with in the chapter.

**Chapter 8: Dance Floor Spot Light**

Depending on how you looked at it being a Disk Jockey was either one of the best jobs in the world, or one of the worst. You got to decide what music played, at the desecration of the club owner of course, and when. You got to use probably the most expensive equipment in the club as you saw fit. You were even encouraged to spend your free time CD shopping or watching MTV and music videos, to keep up with "pop culture" so to speak. In most cases, a DJ also could take home any number of women in a club on a given night.

On the other hand, if you were a female DJ who liked to put on a baseball cap and lowers the lights of the booth so no one would really catch sight of you there wasn't as much to do. The one major positive, beside getting to chose the music and working for someone willing to sponsor her schooling, was having a bird's eye view of the dance floor. The past months working as a DJ Rei Hino had taken an interest in observing how people reacted to the different music, to the increase or decrease of the beat and the way the speakers thumped in time with certain songs. She pushed her blue baseball cap up a bit; making sure the hood of her large sweater still covered her long black hair as her dark eyes scanned the club's floor again.

Her eyes narrowed however as she noticed a large area of the floor where the crowd had receded to ring around a few figures. She paid careful attention and noticed soon how two figures charged toward one near the center. It wasn't hard to tell a fight was going on. She flipped a few switches and raced out of the booth and into a hidden hallway of the second floor. This was the clubs version of backstage, no one but workers and very select guests even saw the staircase which led to the second floor. Rei made a quick right at the end of the hall and all but barreled through the door of her employer's office causing two older women to jump from their seats.

Meiou-sama, there's a fight on the floor of the main room! Rei said as she stopped and bowed quickly. Meiou Setsuna picked up a black phone and hit a button, speaking quickly before hanging up and turning back to Rei.

Hino-san, go see if you can focus one of the spot lights on the area so the bouncers can locate it easily. Rei nodded and jogged back down the hall as Setsuna walked over to the door, followed by her guest.

Is it always so eventful, Setsuna-san? Asked the twenty year old who followed a few paces behind.

No, but there are bound to be problems now and then Michiru-san. Setsuna paused and turned to her friend. I'm going down to make sure things are settled, are you sure you want to follow?

It shouldn't be that dangerous with your bouncers there, should it?

I'd hope not.

On the floor Haruka chose to focus on the man before her, hoping the guy behind her could wait for a moment. She managed to land a round house kick to the man's head, silently thanking the crowd for having backed away now. As she turned toward the next man, wondering why he hadn't already attacked she found him on the ground and Makoto standing above him glaring. Green eyes met teal and Haruka nodded her thanks to the younger woman. The man with Minako in hand wrapped an arm tightly around the young blonde's throat and began to slowly back toward the crowd.

And just where do you think you're going? Asked a rather loud voice behind him. This time the man jumped, just keeping his hold on the Minako as he spun around to face Usagi behind him. He sneered and almost laughed when he saw the girl blocking him.

Run along and play kitten. The man said, starting toward her again just as a spot light focused on the group. He paused, and then cursed as he saw a group of bouncers headed their way. With out a second thought he let go of Minako and darted into the crowd hoping to escape before the cops were called.

Break it up! Yelled a bouncer as he grabbed Haruka by the collar, taking in a bit of blood now leaking from a wound on her right temple and glaring at the man holding a bottle and being pinned by two bouncers. Several of them continued to struggle, though Haruka wasn't one of them since she was actually glad the bouncers had finally arrived. He raised his voice and shouted at the group again. I said break it up! Now! Haul them out of here!

Wait. Setsuna stepped from the ring of the crowd and looked at the gathered men, bouncers, Minako who looked no worse for wear, Haruka who was bleeding, Makoto and Usagi. She eyed everyone before asking the one question she cared about. Who started this?

It was the blonde guy! Yelled one of Minako's would be kidnappers and Haruka rolled her eyes. Setsuna looked at her and a weird smile lit her face.

Did you start the fight? Setsuna asked.

Only if preventing them from dragging my friend outside counts. Haruka replied a bit bitterly and Setsuna shook her head.

"It was him!" Minako yelled and pointed as Mamoru drug a kicking and screaming man back toward them. It took him and another bar tender to control the man and force him over to where their boss stood. Minako realized where saw was and turned to Setsuna again but the older woman waved off what she was about to say.

"Don't worry, I speak English." Setsuna smiled at the relief that shone from Minako's eyes even as the man continued to shout that he hadn't done anything. She shook her head and pointed to him and his four friends'. Take them to one of the store rooms; they can wait there until the police arrive. Bring the calm ones to my office please.

Setsuna turned and walked back toward a well hidden doorway in the back of the room. Haruka, Minako, Usagi, and Makoto followed. Near the door waited another woman dressed more appropriately for a visit to a museum. Haruka looked up and spotted deep blue eyes and aqua looks as the woman eyed her, before a bouncer cuffed the blonde in the head and told her to keep moving. They proceeded up a staircase and down a hallway into an office that wasn't large, but was about the size of the average living room. Setsuna took a seat at her desk, the mysterious woman opting to stand behind her and seeming to be examining a painting on the wall. Minako and Usagi took the two seats before the desk and Makoto and Haruka stood behind them.

Wait outside. Setsuna said to the bouncers that had followed. Reluctantly the men exited and shut the door behind them. Setsuna stippled her fingers and regarded them. Usagi-chan, Makoto-chan. I am very surprised to find you two were involved, I've never had a problem with either of you.

We're sorry, Meiou-san. Makoto began but Usagi cut her off and seemed to be ready to pled for their lives, causing the brunette to sigh again.

It was just that Ten'ou-san saw that guy trying to drag off his friend, and he stood to go help, and we couldn't just let them take her. Usagi stood from her chair and waved a hand toward Minako who's eyes were wide as she had no clue what the other blonde was saying at such high speed. I mean, who knows what they would have done to her. She might have been raped or killed or beaten or…

Please breathe Usagi-chan. Setsuna waved the blonde back to her seat and shook her head. I merely meant that I would have thought you'd have called the bouncers, rather than charge to the rescue yourselves. Now, may I ask Ten'ou-san some questions?

Sure. Haruka responded as she had just finished whispering a quick summary of what Usagi said to Minako. The tall blonde stood up to attention, then realized what she was doing stuffed her hands in her pockets. The entire action earned her another odd look from the woman behind the desk.

Why were you involved?

Aino-san, my roommate, had gone off to the dance floor. I was talking to Kino-san and Tuskino-san when I noticed one of the men down stairs arguing with her. Haruka reported with a detached look in her eye, trying not to sound too angry. By the time I'd made my way across the floor he was trying to drag her away.

Very heroic of you. Said the aqua haired woman, speaking for the first time and causing everyone to look at her. She turned to face them and looked directly into Haruka's teal eyes. Do you save every young woman in trouble?

This is the first time I've had to, and I was looking out for my friend. Haruka answered, not sure wither or not to take the question as a form of criticism. The aqua haired woman merely nodded and turned back to inspect another painting.

And Makoto-chan, you decided to follow to help Ten'ou-san. Do I have that correct? Setsuna asked and received a nod from the young woman in question. She turned her eyes toward the second young blonde woman sitting before her desk. "Aino-san I presume. May I hear your side of things?"

"Yes ma'am." Minako smiled weakly as she took her turn. "I left Ten'ou-san at the bar and decided to go look for someone to dance with. Just as one song was starting I met the man on the dance floor. We danced once and I tried to step away but he grabbed my arm. I tried asking him to let go in both Japanese and English but he didn't. I thought he didn't understand so I tried to pull away but he held on. I repeated for him to let me go but he only smiled and began to pull me along. I slapped at him a few times and stepped on his foot but he still didn't let go. That's when Ten'ou-san found us and stood in the way."

"Thank you." Setsuna looked at the group at large until her door swung open and a concerned looking Mamoru came in. She silenced him with a hand held up and a shake of her head. Don't worry; Usagi-chan and Makoto-chan aren't in any trouble I just wanted to hear what they had to say. I will ask that they wait up here until the police have come and spoken with whoever they like though. The same goes for Ten'ou-san and Aino-san.

"What did she just say?" Minako asked Haruka, her concentration failing under the current predicament.

"She wants us to wait until the police finish their own questions." Haruka supplied.

"We aren't banned are we?" Minako asked and even Haruka would call the look she was giving the club owner puppy eyes.

"No Aino-san, none of you is banned." Setsuna smiled as the blonde relaxed. A man stuck his head in the door and informed her police had arrived and she excused herself.

Eventful night for a visit, isn't it? Asked the aqua haired woman as Mamoru allowed himself a relived sigh, his girlfriend hugging him tightly and causing him to turn a bit red.

Yes, Kaioh-sama. He shook his head and smiled as Usagi finally released her strangle hold and contented herself to hugging his arm instead. I'm glad no one was seriously hurt… Are you okay Ten'ou-san?

I'm fine, it's just a cut. Haruka replied, eyes shut as she fought a headache that came with a bottle hitting her temple. At the time she remembered a star burst in her vision and blinding pain, she was glad it had now died to a dull throb. A light hand took a hold of hers and led her to Setsuna's chair where she was forced to sit. She opened her eyes and found herself looking into deep blue eyes and a concerned face. Gentle hands turned her head and Michiru inspected the cut carefully.

Are you sure, it is bleeding quite a bit? Michiru asked as she accepted a piece of ice from Mamoru who'd raided Setsuna's mini refrigerator. She pressed the ice lightly to Haruka's cut and wiped blood and water away with a cloth Haruka hadn't noticed in her hand. It hurt a bit but the blonde knew enough to know in the end it was a good idea to allow the woman to treat the wound.

It really isn't that bad, thank you Kaioh-san. Haruka replied and received a smile as Michiru handed her the cloth now wrapped around the ice. Haruka placed it against her temple and held it there as the door opened and Setsuna was followed in by two police officers.

Hours later Haruka thanked every god she'd ever heard of that they made it back to the barracks. Setsuna and Michiru refused to let them leave if Haruka was driving; they had spent half an hour talking her into allowing her roommate to drive. Haruka hadn't honestly thought Minako would be this bad, now however she wondered how the blonde made it to anywhere with out crashing. The girl was great with video games but somehow driving a real car just seemed to be beyond her, at least from Haruka's point of view. Minako on the other hand seemed to be having the time of her life.

They pulled up behind the barracks and narrowly missed running over a specialist who was reading as she walked. Minako turned the engine off and bounced over to help the young woman up. She pulled the woman up and apologized over and over.

"Hey, Anderson." Haruka greeted, cutting off Minako's apologizes and causing the blue haired eighteen year old in combats to look up. "Just getting off shift?"

"Yes." Amy started but paused as she noticed the blood stained collar of Haruka's shirt and the once white cloth pressed to the blonde's temple. Amy's blue eyes widened a bit as she tugged the taller blonde down causing a surprised noise to escape her and moving Haruka's hand from the wound.

"We tried to tell her to go to a hospital." Minako said as Amy put her glasses on and looked closer.

"It isn't quiet as bad as it looks." Supplied the young medic as she allowed Haruka to stand straight again. Haruka threw Minako a look that clearly said 'I told you so.' and Amy gestured for them to follow. "You do need a bandage though, Ten'ou."

"Does that mean I'll have to go to the TMC Monday?" Haruka asked as they all entered the building and started for the stairs. Amy seemed to think but shook her head.

"No, the bandage should stop the bleeding so it should be fine as long as you don't poke it." Amy led them to the third floor and unlocked her door. Once they were all inside she instructed Haruka to sit on a bunk and went to retrieve a medical kit from her locker. "I don't know if your command chain is going to want you to though. How did you do this?"

"You could say it was kind of a bar fight." Haruka muttered a bit, her head ache not making her feel up to telling the whole story.

"Oh, it was cool." Minako put in and smiled at Amy as she watched the woman carefully disinfect and tend to Haruka's cut. "I never knew Ten'ou knew Karate!"

"It was Tea Kwon Do, and it wouldn't hurt you to take a few lessons." Haruka muttered as Amy started to tape a square bandage in place on her temple.

"Do you know where any classes are?" Minako asked hopefully and Haruka shook her head as best she could. Minako sighed for a moment, but quickly her eyes lit up again and she hopped up. "You'll just have to teach me a little I guess."

"Thank you, Specialist Anderson." Haruka said after Minako left and Amy smiled at the taller woman and led her to the door of the small room.

"Your welcome, please come by tomorrow afternoon so I can check it and change the bandage." Amy said and Haruka nodded. She was out the door and down the hall as she went over the nights events in her head. The tall blonde swore to herself that she would never again let her roommate talk her into going to any club, bar or other nighttime activity.

**AN: **Please let me know what you think.

**Review responses:**

**D3V4n63L: **Normally I like to keep to a small group of characters and add them kind of slowly, it allows me to keep better track of them and confuses me less. Still, this time it just seemed easier to add certain characters in quick succession.

You haven't posted in a while, hope you're doing okay.

**Marah: **Thanks for reviewing again. B-) You know, I kind of neglect that my space site, I really need to go update it. The dedication was no problem; I love to give credit now and then to reviewers because reading these really keep me motivated.

**Hagancameron: **Sorry about all the suspense, I was tied up… Thankfully not literally. Hmm, cloning myself to write stories faster? I think the clones would creep me out a bit to be honest.

**Amnesia nymph: **Don't worry; at the moment my plans to leave got canceled. I am actually unsure if I will ever work that part out, so for now no plans.

**On that note, I'll go post this for all of you out there to read.**


	9. Travelin' Soldier

**Dedication: **I've done this before, but oh well. This chapter is for my dad, because I wanted to write something for him on his birthday but I couldn't. Thank you for all the stuff you taught me, I still use those lessons now.

**Chapter 9: Travelin' Soldier**

The practice room was quiet, the rest of the quartet having left as soon as they were released for the week end but Haruka had stayed behind for just a few moments. She'd received a letter in the weeks that had passed since the night she'd gone to Subspace, that single letter had left her troubled. She'd been in the military for roughly a year and half, actually just a little more, but she hadn't thought too much about what was happening in Iraq. She'd never feared being sent, not that she thought they needed a piano player there, but neither had she expected that cheerful letter from DeMarco. The young woman wrote about how she was going to the small desert country as a mechanic, and how it seemed a fair share of those they'd been with in BASIC were already there. DeMarco seemed excited.

Haruka closed her eyes, placing her hands lightly on the ivory keys and starting up a slow piece with out thought. Notes floated into the air as the blonde thought over the people she'd trained with and remembered how excited DeMarco had always been. More worrying was what DeMarco told her about another young mechanic being sent as some sort of admin person because of her stress fractures. It almost looked like they needed everyone they could get; it was boggling the cost of this small country on the US military.The piece was drawing to a close but teal eyes remained shut, Haruka not really caring to open her eyes.

As the last note faded applause could be heard from somewhere in the once empty room. Haruka slowly opened her eyes, turning only to find a sergeant with dark brown hair caught in a ponytail and halved again. Brown eyes met Haruka's as the sergeant grinned.

"How are you, Ten'ou?" Haruka stood and went to parade rest, causing Day to shake her head at the younger woman. "Relax; I'm not here to inspect you or anything."

"What are you doing here, Sergeant Day?" Haruka finally asked as Day leaned against a wall.

"I'm here on a sort of weird lay over. I finished recruiting while you were in BASIC and I was assigned to a unit at Fort Carson, Colorado. Now I'm going with some of the others to swap out with a unit in Iraq." Day explained, noticing a somewhat troubled look cross the blonde's face. Day walked over and took a seat on the piano bench, motioning for Haruka to do the same. "I never could get the hang of an instrument that wasn't used for marching; I guess I just liked to play things too loud."

"Did you find me for a reason, sergeant?" Haruka asked as she stared at the black and white keys laid before her. Day wiped any trace of humor from her face and started pressing each key in secession, looking for something. Finally she found what seemed to be a C and went through a very uncertain scale, catching Haruka a bit off guard.

"Marching and concert band leave a mark on your mind." Day said simply and Haruka remembered again a young woman with short spiky hair in a red and black uniform. Even then Day had looked militaristic. A sigh escaped Day before she spoke again, still playing with the white keys of the piano. "Am I correct to say some of your friends are finding their way to the desert, Ten'ou?"

"A lot of the people I trained with, sergeant." Haruka answered, and then began to mirror Day's random notes. It sounded like two kids playing experimentally with a new instrument.

"I wager that you're worried." Day stopped and fished in her pocket for something, when she pulled it out it was a Polaroid showing herself and two other young women as privates. The bottom had a date and a few names written on it. "These were my closest friends back when I was in BASIC. The one on the right came from an Army family, dad and mom both. The other one was first generation so to speak. When we left we all were so excited about graduating, we didn't really pay any attention to Iraq at the time. Wasn't invaded till later really. I haven't heard from either for months, both were sent to Iraq while I was recruiting and one day they just stopped writing."

"I don't understand." Haruka looked up at Day in confusion even as Day stood and pulled something else from her pocket. She handed Haruka a CD and started toward the door, pausing only to say one last thing on her way out.

"What they taught you in BASIC, Ten'ou, it wasn't just for show. We're all soldiers and this comes with the territory. Our jobs aren't always safe, aren't always easy and we don't always get off at five o'clock and drive home. Just remember we all swore to defend our home and to obey the orders of our president and those higher ranking then us. No one forced us, we all chose for ourselves." Day paused again, and then pointed at the CD. "And listen to the track Traveling Soldier."

Haruka popped the CD into the CD player as she started up her mustang later that evening. She sat quietly in the car as music started and a woman's voice sang in a country lilt. Teal eyes again closed as images floated in her mind to go along with the song.

_Two days past eighteen he was waiting for the bus in his Army greens,_

_Sat down in a booth café there, gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair,_

_He's a little shy so she give him a smile,_

_And he said would you mind sitting down for a while and talking to me, I'm feeling a little low,_

_She said I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go,_

_So they went down and they sat on the pier,_

_He said I bet you got a boyfriend but I don't care,_

_I got no one to send a letter to,_

_Would you mind if I sent one back here to you?_

_I cried,_

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy,_

_Too young and they told her,_

_Waiting for the love of a traveling soldier,_

_Our love will never end,_

_Waiting for the soldier to come back again,_

_Never gonna be alone when the letter's sent,_

_A soldier's coming home,_

_So the letters came from an Army camp,_

_In California then Vietnam,_

_And he told of his heart,_

_Might be love,_

_And all of the things he was so scared of,_

_He said when it's getting kind of rough over here,_

_I think of that day sitting down at the pier,_

_And I close my eyes and see your pretty smile,_

_Don't worry but I wont be able to write for a while,_

_I cried,_

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy,_

_Too young and they told her,_

_Waiting for the love of a traveling soldier,_

_Our love will never end,_

_Waiting for the soldier to come back again,_

_Never gonna be alone when the letter's sent,_

_A soldier's coming home,_

_One Friday night at a football game,_

_The Lord's Prayer said and the anthem sang,_

_A man said folks would you bow your heads for a list of local Vietnam dead,_

_Crying alone under the stands,_

_Was a piccolo player in the marching band,_

_At one name read and nobody really cared,_

_But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair,_

_I cried,_

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy,_

_Too young and they told her,_

_Waiting for the love of a traveling soldier,_

_Our love will never end,_

_Waiting for the soldier to come back again,_

_Never gonna be alone when the letter's sent,_

_A soldier's coming home,_

_I cried,_

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy,_

_Too young and they told her,_

_Waiting for the love of a traveling soldier,_

_Our love will never end,_

_Waiting for the soldier to come back again,_

_Never gonna be alone when the letter's sent,_

_A soldier's coming home,_

As the song ended and a new one started to play Haruka opened her eyes and looked out the window toward the night sky above. It was a short drive to the area of post she'd been told Day's unit was staying and a quick conversation with a sergeant at the desk. Haruka was handed an envelope and told the unit had flown out two hours before, bound for Iraq. The blonde thanked the man, then walked back out to her car and sat for a moment. It was Friday, Minako was already out at some bar with some guy and Haruka had nothing left to do until Monday. With out even changing Haruka drove off post, not paying attention to where she was until she'd parked outside of Subspace and was looking up toward the building, which almost looked like a large warehouse from outside. The blonde looked down at her uniform top, then glanced in back and saw her bomber jacket. With a shrug she discarded the camouflage top onto the passenger seat, pulled her brown shirt so that it wasn't tucked in and pulled her pant legs so the now draped over her boots instead of tucking in neatly.

Once she stepped in the car she pulled on a black bomber jacket with a large American flag across the back and two tags reading Ten'ou and US Army on the front. She pulled some sunglasses out and slipped them over her eyes, messing her own hair quickly and hoping it'd pass. The door man welcomed her, placing another glowing wrist band on the blonde as she entered.

"Hey Ten'ou-san." Mamoru greeted in English as she took a seat at the bar, he smiled. "I thought you weren't coming back after last time."

"I'd sworn not to at first, but I had nothing else to do." Haruka admitted as she turned her stool to watch the dance floor.

"Well I was told if you showed up tonight to ask you to head over to table six."

"They have numbers?" Haruka asked, a bit surprised.

"Sure, that's how we know where to take drinks when things are slower… Though that doesn't happen much." Mamoru nodded off toward the far wall. "It will be the sixth one from the corner."

"Thank you, Chiba-san." Haruka said and stood, not really sure if she should go meet whoever it was. She somehow doubted it was the men who'd attacked Minako; Mamoru didn't seem the type to set her up that way. Still, who else would want to see her when she knew for a fact that Minako wasn't here tonight?

Haruka's question was answered, but her head were filled with more as she spotted the table. There sat Michiru Kaioh, the young woman with the aqua hair she'd met after the fight. The woman hadn't noticed her yet, so Haruka cleared her throat and bowed once the young woman looked up into her eyes.

Kaioh-san, it's nice to see you again. Haruka said politely in Japanese and Michiru smiled up at her.

"Call me Michiru, and I speak English." Michiru waved a hand toward the chair across from hers. "I've been hoping you'd show up again."

"May I ask why, Michiru-san?" Haruka asked as she took a seat at the table. Michiru held out an envelope and Haruka took it slowly, and then raised a brow at the contents. "Concert tickets?"

"I was hoping you and perhaps Aino-san would come hear me play." Michiru shifted her attention toward the crowd of dancers on the floor again, waiting the shadowy forms moving in multicolored light. "I would like to get to know you a bit better."

"I can't say Aino has ever seemed to be one for classical music, but I'll ask her." Haruka paused and hung her head in her hand as thoughts of her roommate being sent away assailed her this time. She almost felt Day's letter burning her pocket until a light hand touched her shoulder.

"Are you alright, Ten'ou-san?" Michiru asked and Haruka could only shake her head and stand. She paused, unsure why she was doing it, she held he hand out to the other young woman. They walked outside and Haruka led Michiru to her car which she leaned against, closing her eyes as the breeze grazed her skin and hair.

Michiru had silently followed and watched Haruka for a moment, tonight if you really looked you see a great deal about the tall blonde. First was the once well hidden fact she was female, but somehow that didn't surprise Michiru in the slightest. What did catch her were the patches on the front of Haruka's jacket, causing her to glance toward the car and spot the top half of Haruka's uniform.

"You're a US Soldier?" Michiru asked in a neutral voice, the blonde nodded silently. Michiru took a seat on the hood of the car, watching Haruka again and taking in the details about the young woman before she asked her next question. "Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?"

"No, thank you Michiru-san." Haruka took a deep breath and looked toward the woman sitting on her car. On impulse she spoke again. "Would you like a ride home, or to wherever you were going next?"

Michiru smiled and it wasn't long before the two were in the mustang driving toward a somewhat near by coastline. They pulled up before a large expensive apartment building and Haruka acted on habit as she acted in the US. She hopped out and opened the door for Michiru who shivered a little in the cooler air outside the car. Michiru looked up at her, then grabbed her hand and pulled the blonde across the street toward a small beach. Michiru led her down to where the sand and water met and stood just out of reach of the waves. Haruka shook her head, thinking once of going back to her car before shaking off the thought. A press of a button on her keychain and a sound let them know the alarm had set across the street.

Michiru rubbed her arms as she gazed out at the waves, until a jacket settled over her shoulders and the upper part of her dress. She glanced up to find Haruka examining what the sand was doing to the shine on her black combat boots, now wearing only the brown t-shirt that she wore under her uniform. Michiru slipped her arms through the sleeves of the large jacket and heard something crinkle. She looked over and found a letter and the concert tickets in the pocket.

"The letter is from a sergeant that helped recruit me." Haruka said, reaching over and pulling both from the pocket of the jacket. She placed the tickets in a pocket of her pants before looking at the envelope she still held.

"What does it say?" Michiru asked curiously.

"I don't know, I haven't read it." Haruka sighed and put it in the same pocket before sitting unceremoniously on the sand. "She was here for a few hours and she came by to see me. She told me she was going to Iraq, talked to me for a while about my friends that are over there."

"That must be hard Ten'ou-san." Michiru said in a quiet voice as she gazed down at the blonde. Then she thought about it and asked something again. "Are they going to send you?"

"I doubt it, I play piano in a small group and that's what I do for the Army." Haruka gave her best playful glare at the woman above her. "You can call me Haruka; it's only fair if I'm calling you Michiru."

"Thank you, Haruka-san."

Not much else was said that night, as the two just watched the sea for a while. Still, as Haruka walked back to her car and wished Michiru good night she felt just a slight bit better. She had no way to know if Day, DeMarco or any of the others would be alright but she couldn't worry about it either. It was part of their job, just like it was part of hers.

A sleepy Minako looked up as Haruka walked in and blinked at the state of the taller blonde. Sand and a bit of fine dust covered her boots and pants, her top shirt was missing, hair messed and shirt untucked. If the shorter blonde didn't know her roommate she'd almost swear the woman had a date. Haruka's next question really caught her.

"Have you ever gone to a violin concert, Aino?" Minako shook her head and Haruka gave her an evil grin before walking away and calling back from the small bathroom. "Don't make any plans for next weekend."

**Author's Note:**

The song "Travelin' Soldier" belongs to the Dixie Chicks. It has held a weird meaning for me since the summer of 2003.

I hope this chapter is okay, let me know what you think. Not sure if I'm doing so well because this story isn't anywhere near keeping up with "Can't Leave You Alone" or "Truly Madly Deeply", but I'll keep going for those who have reviewed.

Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think.


	10. Where We Left Off

**AN: **This is a small chapter that follows the others instead of Haruka.

**Chapter 10: Where we left off**

A knock on the door woke Michiru to Saturday morning light and she blinked as it blinded her for a moment. She was still sitting groggily in bed as she heard the front door to her apartment open. She knew who it was, unless someone had decided to rob her apartment mid-day. A shuffling sounded in the living room and Michiru slowly climbed out of bed and grabbed a robe at the end of her bed. She looked around for her slippers when a head popped through her bedroom door.

"I came by to make sure my best friend was okay." Setsuna spoke as Michiru looked up at her and the older woman smiled a bit. She held a black bomber in her hand with a raised eyebrow. "Does this have to do with why you didn't say anything before you left, Michiru-san?"

"I'm sorry Setsuna-san, I wasn't thinking." Michiru sat on the end of her bed and accepted the jacket as it was handed to her. Setsuna sat down as well and Michiru sighed. "I ran in to someone and they were so worried about something that I didn't think."

"Ten'ou-san finally returned then?" Setsuna smirked at the surprised look she was treated to. "Chiba-kun mentioned that you'd been looking for him every night. He also said Ten'ou-san looked almost completely different, something about a black jacket and camouflage pants."

"Ten'ou-san is a US soldier, and he is a she." Michiru said and felt slight justification as Setsuna seemed to just pause, things running again through her mind. Michiru smiled outright when Setsuna started to hold up a hand at Haruka's rough height.

"Well, she's a bit tall and the way she dressed I'd never guess." Setsuna commented at the smile Michiru was giving her than raised an eyebrow again. She adopted a warning tone and wagged a finger at the younger woman. "And you should know that while you may be bi-sexual the US military is infamous for intolerance of homosexuality."

"What do you mean?" Michiru asked as she looked back down at the jacket in her hands. "I only want to get to know her, Sets."

"Just be careful, if Ten'ou-san is military most likely so was Aino-chan. I studied in the US and a friend of mine did a term paper about deaths of soldiers found to be homosexual. If I remember correctly they put a whole new set of procedures into their military law because of it." Setsuna thought for a moment before she spoke again. "In fact, I think I remember a translator that lost their job due to those laws."

"Meiou-san, I am only interested in getting to know the woman." Michiru said as firmly as she could manage. "I never even hinted at having feelings for her, I don't even know her."

"So you don't think she's attractive?" Setsuna questioned her friend.

"Do you?" Michiru threw back only to get a laugh from the club owner. "What did I say this time?"

"You know I'm straight, beside I go more for the typical tall dark and handsome type." Setsuna explained as she stood and turned toward the door.

"Like Chiba-san?" Michiru asked, bringing up the young bartender and causing Setsuna to almost freeze but not quite.

"Chiba-kun is an employee, and if he were not Usagi-chan is far too nice a young woman for me to ever want to see her sad." Setsuna shook her head and gestured toward Michiru's bathroom. "If you get cleaned up I'll take you to breakfast this morning, then perhaps you can pick up your car from my club."

"Thank you, Setsuna." Michiru smiled and turned away from her oldest friend toward the bathroom. Setsuna was more like an older sister almost since the day the two meet, watching out for Michiru since they were children. It was even Setsuna who taken her in for a few years after her parents had died.

"Ten'ou, Aino are you here?" A voice called as the door opened slightly. Minako looked up from the magazine she was reading, or rather the model she was gazing at this time, to find Amy looking into the room timidly. Minako smiled and stood to bound over to the young medic.

"Hey there Anderson, Ten'ou took off with out much explanation but I'd be happy to help you." Minako was nearly speaking too fast for the other young woman and Amy blinked for a few moments before smiling. Minako waved her inside and the medic took a seat on the desk chair between the two bunks. Minako plopped back onto her own bunk and grinned happily. "What can I do for you today, Specialist Anderson?"

"Well, I was hoping to go off base to a local book store but I really don't know the area…" Amy started and Minako looked surprised.

"You mean you can read Japanese?"

"Oh yes, actually I read and speak it fluently. When I was in high school I took some classes at the local community college each summer." Amy paused at Minako's look and smiled at the blonde again. "I take it you haven't had much luck with Ten'ou helping you."

"She kind of just submerges me into it; I don't think she'd make a very good teacher." Minako paused and looked at Amy with a serious look and a small amount of confusion in her blue eyes. "What langue do you think she uses in her mind? I mean my English teacher once said we all tend to think in one langue, but Ten'ou is kind of good with both."

"I think you would have to ask her." Amy smiled in amusement. "However, if you'd like help from someone else I could give you lessons once a week. I was a tutor before I enlisted."

"You must be really smart, I mean we're the same age and you already have some college while I came here straight out of high school." Minako stood, brushing green wool lint from her black cargo pants and black tank top before she looked around for her small white jean jacket. "If you're going to help me with my Japanese then I'll be happy to help you find a bookstore."

"Thank you, Aino." Amy said as she too stood, still in uniform. Minako grinned and Amy excused herself to change.

The trip into Tokyo landed them at a mall full of different stores. After spending over an hour in a large book store the two emerged with two bags. One held different books of Amy's choice; one romance novel, medical journals, a science book Minako didn't understand and a number of books about the human anatomy. The second bag was for Minako's sake. Inside were several books about the written Japanese langue, a few children's books that taught you how to draw some of the simpler characters, and some magazine's Amy hoped would encourage the blonde to learn to read the langue. They even bought a CD you play in your sleep to help you learn the langue, though neither was sure if it really worked.

"Hey Anderson, have you ever been to a violin concert?" Minako asked as they were wandering down the malls white tile floors. Amy looked up for a moment from the book she was reading and paused to answer.

"Not a violin solo, but I have been to a number of classical concerts. Why do you ask, Aino?"

"Well, uh, they dress nicely right?" Minako didn't notice Amy pause until she was three paces ahead. She stopped and looked back into inquiring blue eyes and sighed. "Ten'ou was given two tickets to a violin concert and the person who gave them to her wanted me to go too."

"Well, normally you dress formally." Amy closed her book and seemed to be thinking. "Who gave you the tickets, and who is it that's giving the performance?"

"Uh, I think her name is Kaioh Michiru and she gave Ten'ou the tickets herself." Minako paused as Amy's eyes went wide and she became confused when the normally shy woman pulled her along until they reached a dress shop. "Hey, what did I say?"

"First, the tickets given to the performer are usually extremely good seats." Amy explained and ushered Minako into the shop before finishing the explanation. "Meaning that you'll be very close to the stage. Secondly, Kaioh Michiru is a rising star in the classical world. I've been trying to get tickets for her concert online but they were sold out."

"Classical sells out?" Minako asked in confusion as another young woman about their age approached. She stopped and cleared her throat, causing the two to look over and find a strangely tall young woman with brown hair pulled into a high pony-tail. She wore black slacks and a green dress shirt, a name tag reading Makoto was pinned to her shirt.

Can I help you two with anything? She asked kindly and Minako grinned as she realized they'd already met. At a lack of ability to speak the langue properly she poked Amy, who seemed to have frozen when the woman spoke.

"She's a friend Anderson, we met in a club." Minako waved a hand at Makoto, who waited patently for the two to finish. "This is the girl that helped Ten'ou during the fight."

"Oh, well it seems it is a small world." Amy said, still a bit fazed it seemed. She jumped when Minako poked her again, nearly falling until Makoto caught her and helped her right herself.

"No Disney quotes Anderson." Minako said, grinning happily at Makoto who was watching them both. Amy turned bright red as she thought what the young woman must think of the two soldiers.

Thank you, and actually we're looking for a dress for Aino-san. Amy finally managed and Makoto smiled.

Is that why she keeps poking you? Makoto asked with a friendly smile and Amy turned a darker shade of red. Makoto laughed a little and held up her hands in a placating manner. Don't worry, I was only joking. I'm Kino Makoto and I'll be happy to help you two out, though I would like to know how Ten'ou-san is. 

Ten'ou-san is fine, the head wound wasn't very bad and it's healed completely. Amy smiled and nodded toward Minako again, the blonde was looking back and forth as they spoke and seemed lost. Aino-san says that you helped her. 

I didn't do much, I just didn't agree with those guys dragging Aino-san out against her will. Makoto turned and looked Minako over for a moment before looking back toward Amy. Are you another roommate? 

No, but we live in the same building. Amy answered cryptically and received a sober nod before Makoto smiled again.

So, what kind of dress are you two looking for? 

"What did she say?" Minako finally asked, exasperated that she couldn't understand most of the conversation.

"What kind of dress we are looking for." Amy replied as she looked again toward the blonde. "What color do you like by the way?"

"Um orange, but do they make orange formal dresses?" Minako said and Amy fought a small laugh as she turned back to Makoto.

We need a formal dress, or at least semi-formal. Aino-san is going to see a classical concert. She was wondering if you've seen any orange dresses that might work? Amy translated.

I think we might have one but she should go try it on. If it works I can get her measurements and have it adjusted. Makoto said as she led the two toward a set of changing rooms and indicated some chairs. Wait here and I'll bring it to you. 

Haruka looked up that night when Minako walked in and raised a brow at the other blonde from where she was sweeping the floor. Minako grinned and indicated a corner that still had dust in it, receiving a playful glare for her effort. Minako walked over to her bunk and started to untie her shoes as Haruka swept the small pile of dust into a dust bin and threw it out.

"So, where did you take off to anyway?" Minako asked as she opened her bag from the book store and started reaching for a magazine. Haruka held up a suit bag as way of answer and Minako grinned. "So I take it that means you'll be as tomboyish as ever, Ten'ou?"

"Did you really expect any different?" Haruka said as she carefully placed the suit bag in her wall locker. "What were you up to?"

"Anderson wanted to go to a bookstore, and then she informed me these concerts are normally formal or at least semi-formal so we went to get a dress." Minako said, emphasizing the word informed.

"Sorry, it slipped my mind that you'd never been to one." Haruka said as she picked up a folder full of sheet music and sat down before the wooden desk. "I'm used to it from playing piano."

"So why didn't you just go in dress uniform?" Minako teased and Haruka glanced at her.

"You know they prefer we aren't obvious off post."

"And last night in combats was such a good example of that." Minako teased again, this time drawing a sigh and the taller blonde's attention. "Did I miss something?"

"Well, Michiru kind of knows we're soldiers now." Haruka said haltingly and caused Minako to raise a brow. From the look on Haruka's face she was expecting a lecture or something; instead she got an evil grin.

"I could be wrong, but isn't it a sign of familiarity to call someone here by their first name?" Minako grinned and prodded the piano player again. "You don't even call me by my first name. Do you even remember my first name?"

"Of course I do!" Haruka defended and paused. She hung her head after a minute and spoke in a low voice. "I'm just a bit out of it today, but I know it starts with an M."

"Minako, I am Minako Aino." Minako was enjoying messing with the taller woman since Haruka was normally on top of things. "I know your name, Haruka Ten'ou and you live in California."

"I used to live in California; I'm not sure when I'll be back." Haruka corrected and turned back to the sheet music. Minako watched as she started to run through what had to be fingerings on the desk and shook her head. It wasn't like they could keep a piano in the barracks.

"Well I'm going to hit the showers, have fun with the homework Specialist Ten'ou."

**Author's Note:**

For some reason I wanted to make Haruka a corporal, but that would make her a None Commissioned Officer. I'm reasonably sure NCOs don't generally share their barracks rooms with enlisted so I left her equal rank to Amy. Poor Minako is low man on the pole here.

Okay, sorry this is so short and didn't focus on the normal character. I had a bit of a problem with a friend this week and ever since I can't seem to keep my thoughts straight.

Thank you for the reviews, since I got more than the last time I'll do some responses tonight. Here goes:

**Secondary Note:**

**I'm sorry this took so long, in fact this chapter has been waiting on a hard drive for about … Well, for a least a about two months. I want to say thank you to all those still reading, and again sorry for the long wait.**


	11. Hypnotic Melody

**Author's Note: **I just read through some of the previous chapters and noticed something. The markings I was using on the computer to show when they were speaking Japanese weren't showing on the actual posts, I'm sorry I didn't notice that before. For now I am going to put them in normal form but _italic_, please let me know if anything goes wrong with that. Okay, here we go.

**Chapter 11: Hypnotic Melody**

"Aino, are you almost ready?" Haruka called toward the door of the latrine (bathroom) as Amy straightened the bow tie of the taller blonde's tux.

"Just finished." Minako said as they heard the door open to their left and right respectively. Two sets of eyes looked up as the young private emerged and held out her arms, striking a small pose for the two. "How do I look?"

Minako wore a spaghetti strap, orange dress that appeared to be made of something like silk. Around her shoulders was some sort of nearly see through orange wrap and her hair was allowed to flow freely across her shoulders. In a way she looked a lot like she was going to a prom and Haruka normally would have avoided the orange but it seemed somehow fitting for the young soldier.

"You look great." Haruka said with a nod and her roommate smiled brightly as Amy nodded her agreement. The blonde specialist couldn't fight an evil smile as she shook her finger at the young private and spoke in a mock stern voice. "Now just remember Cinderella, if you aren't back by midnight your horses turn back into mice."

"Does that mean your Mustang is a mouse?" Minako asked which caused Amy to laugh as Haruka merely blinked.

"You should both get going before it gets too late." Amy said as she started shoeing them from the barracks room they lived in. Teal eyes looked down at the other specialist as they all passed through the door and she ran a hand through her short, though somewhat tousled, blonde hair.

"I wish I had a third ticket, I really owe you for the help Anderson." Haruka spoke but Amy shook her head and just waved off the thanks as politely as possible.

"It was no trouble." Amy saw the protest in Haruka's eyes so she spoke again. "If you really want to make it up to me see if you can get a CD signed by Kaioh-san."

"I'll see what I can do." Haruka confirmed before following her roommate down the stairs and out of the building. Amy smiled to herself as she turned and started back toward the room they'd all just left. If Amy knew Minako, the latrine was likely a mess, so she thought she might as well straighten it a little for the two.

Once they reached the concert hall Minako felt completely overwhelmed. Haruka, she noticed, was easily in her element among the nicely dressed and seemingly upper class citizens but she had no idea what was being said. They managed to find their seats, nearly in the center of the front row, and sat quietly as the audience settled in.

"Good evening, Aino-san." The two blondes looked to their right and found Setsuna settling in to a previously empty seat. She smiled and nodded toward Haruka. "And Ten'ou-san, it's nice to see you both again. How is your head?"

"It's fine, thank you for the concern Meiou-san." Haruka said as Minako just seemed relieved to be between two people who spoke English. Further conversation was prevented as the lights slowly came down and a spotlight lit upon the red curtain before them. A male voice spoke somewhat warmly over the built in speakers, and Haruka quietly let Minako know it was just announcing Michiru as the night's performer. Slowly the curtains drifted open to show the young woman standing center stage.

Michiru wore white from head to toe. Her dress was complemented by long white gloves and a white rose set lightly into the bun which held her hair back, though a few locks still tucked loosely behind her ears. She bowed once before slowly lifting her violin to rest on her shoulder.

There was a moment of complete silence as Michiru prepared to draw her bow across the strings for the first note, and once the silence was broken by the sound of the violin no one made a single sound.

To Haruka the sound was enchanting, almost hypnotic in its melodic beauty. The blonde closed her eyes, allowing the music to drift through her mind and ease away the stress which had been building up recently. In her mind it brought up images of the wide open ocean, of beaches under moonlight and at least once the image of space in its entire silent expanse. Haruka couldn't explain why it felt so calming, and in fact she didn't give it a second thought as she allowed her mind to drift along with the melody.

"That was great, even if it doesn't really have lyrics and you can't dance to it." Minako said as she followed Haruka and Setsuna toward a door after the concert drew to a close. Setsuna smiled at the two women, her amusement clear as she glanced back toward the younger blonde.

"Actually you can dance to it, Aino-san." Setsuna paused and waved Haruka toward her a bit. The older blonde came forward warily and found her self being pulled into position for the start of a waltz or other formal dance. She grinned herself and waltzed a bit with the club owner, who wore a nearly black floor length dress that shimmered and glinted a little green in the dim lighting of the hall. Setsuna spoke again, not missing a step. "It's just not the dance music you normally hear in Subspace."

"Ah, well I never really had to dance like that." Minako said as she blushed, realizing the over-sight of her own comment. "Even at our prom I just waited for the DJ to put on Shaggy."

"Shaggy at a prom?" Haruka seemed to think that one over for a moment or two as she slowed to a stop and bowed to Setsuna. "Now I'm not so sorry I missed prom. Thank you for the dance, Meiou-san."

"You're quite welcome Ten'ou-san." Setsuna replied, inclining her head even as they heard a giggle from a nearby door. The three looked up to find Michiru standing at the stage door watching them as other audience members ambled back up the isles.

"Should I get my violin so you have music to dance to?" She offered with a smile and amusement twinkling in her eyes blue eyes. Setsuna shook her head and Minako laughed a bit even as Haruka bowed again.

"The concert was wonderful Michiru-san, thank you for the tickets." Haruka said as she straightened up again. Teal eyes met Michiru's blue eyes and they both smiled even as Setsuna cleared her throat.

"I, for one, am rather hungry." She said, looking toward Michiru with some sort of message in her eyes. The violin player nodded and turned her eyes toward the floor for a moment as Setsuna sighed almost unnoticeably. "Why don't we all go out for dinner?"

By the time Haruka parked her Mustang back in front of the barracks it was easily past 0100. Minako went straight to their room but Haruka detoured onto a different floor. The tall blonde walked as quietly as possible down the hall, even if it was a Saturday night, and finally reached the door she was looking for. Light spilled under it so Haruka knocked very quietly and waited as soft footfalls approached.

"Hi Anderson." She smiled somewhat cockily as the blue haired specialist opened the door and eyed her from behind a pair of glasses. Amy didn't look even slightly tired as she held a book in her free hand and returned Haruka's smile.

"Hello Ten'ou, how was the concert?" She asked as she waved Haruka in, but the tall blonde shook her head to the offer.

"It was great and I'll be happy to tell you all about it tomorrow." Haruka said as she pulled a CD case from behind her back and held it out to the young woman. Amy took it and her eyes widened a bit as she noted the cover and the message scrawled across it. Japanese characters stood out in bold black marker across the image of a beautifully drawn seashore. Haruka tweaked the younger woman's nose and grinned. "I told you I'd see what I could do."

"Thank you Ten'ou." Amy said happily even as Haruka stifled a yawn and nodded. The blonde waved her good night and slowly made her way back down the hall and to the staircase.

"I see why you don't wear make-up now." Minako commented as she stood before the sink of their room. She'd spotted Haruka in the mirror as the other soldier entered. Minako was already out of her dress but was still working at getting the makeup off as she fought a yawn every few seconds.

"Maybe you should just try a shower." Haruka suggested, pulling her tux off and hanging it back in a suit bag as she changed into sweats. Before BASIC she might have cared that Minako was in the room, but since having to share one room with so many other women or a shower with roughly seven at a time she no longer cared. The one thing the older blonde thanked fate for was the fact that after BASIC the barracks had smaller latrines connected to the room. Instead of a huge shower room with eight shower heads and no dividers they only had to decide who took a shower first.

"Maybe." Minako muttered back, derailing Haruka's sleepy thoughts of shower rooms. Minako had to grin as Haruka seemed to blink, realizing that her roommate had totally lost the line of conversation. "Good night Ten'ou."

"Night." Haruka muttered, locking up her wall locker and walking over to her bunk. The blonde specialist let herself fall face first onto the narrow bunk, not even bothering to crawl under the green wool blanket before teal eyes drifted shut. Minako glanced once toward the taller blonde, than gave in and walked off to take a shower in hopes of getting to sleep a bit faster.

Setsuna sat before a desk in her study, robe draped about her nightdress clad shoulders as she looked over some financial papers. Silence engulfed the room as she did math in her mind, than checked it with a calculator and took notes on a legal pad. It continued this way until the cell phone beside her note pad began to ring.

"Hello Michiru-chan." Setsuna said in a warm voice, eyes never leaving the papers as she pushed a button to set the cell on speaker phone.

"You always seem to know when it's me, even if I block my ID." Michiru said lightly and Setsuna only smirked a little as her eyes read a new line. For a moment the silence fell again, than Michiru broke it. "I wasn't going to flirt you know?"

"Of course not." Setsuna agreed, still only giving the conversation half her concentration.

"I mean, it's not as if I don't have plenty of handsome young men in tuxes at my concerts." Michiru added and this time Setsuna raised an eyebrow but still didn't look at the phone. She heard a sigh from the other end of the line and her hand finally paused. "I just like the color."

"Color of what?" Setsuna looked toward the phone, noticing Michiru really had blocked the caller ID.

"Her eyes." Michiru explained in a voice that made it sound like the most obvious thing in the world. "That's what I was looking at when you cleared you throat. I can't remember meeting anyone with teal eyes before; actually she'd be a wonderful model for a painting."

"Michiru-san, are you sure this is all purely plutonic?" Setsuna asked, setting her pen down as she stood and picked up the phone. She turned off the speaker mode and placed it against her ear as she turned the light in the room off and walked out.

"Of course it's plutonic, she's just intriguing."

"So that's why you're thinking about her at two in the morning?" Setsuna asked, her voice inching toward a teasing tone as she reached her bedroom.

"I was only awake for a cup of tea." Michiru said and Setsuna smiled at her friend's somewhat defensive tone. "In fact I just finished so I'll just go to bed now."

"Good night Michiru-san." Setsuna said, receiving a similar good night before she closed her cell phone. The red eyed woman took a deep breath, letting out a nearly silent sigh before she turned out this light as well and doused her home in darkness.

**Reviewer responses: I feel rusty as I haven't had a chance to write these in a while.**

**Neptune's Mask: **O.O I'm reasonably sure you actually know my work better than I do; I swear I had honestly forgotten those clouds in TMD. I just get that mild warm fuzzy feeling knowing anybody enjoys my stories that much; maybe it will give me the confidence to get my original works published someday.

**Amnesia Nymph: **There was a point where I was wondering if I'd get back to this story, I know it's nearly been left twice before. At least this time it wasn't as horribly long of a wait, last time was so long I actually did reread the story.

**MIHARU83: **Interesting name there, don't happen to be born in 1983 do you? Random guess, but I felt like asking. Well, here's the eleventh chapter I hope the wait wasn't too long.

**Tonker: **Makoto and Ami are my favorites of the inner scouts, the rest I can take or leave but those two are interesting. I'm glad that the shortness was too much of a let down, I feel a bit out of form to be writing longer chapters after such a long break. Still, I continue to try as I know the short chapters can be a tease after such long gaps. Keep your eyes open, I may just bring some more Ami and Makoto interaction in. Actually, it was a bit fun to write that part.

**poOt: **Thanks for the support; I hope this wait wasn't as bad. B-)

**petiyaka: **I refuse to drop this story, though a chapter or two has killed me to write. You have a really good point there about the characters feelings and motivations; I guess you could say I'm still puzzling through this one. A lot of the stories I write I have at least some idea where the end will land the characters (with the major exception being "Can't Leave You Alone"), but to be honest I am still deciding some major things about this one. Plus I keep playing this balance between trying to stay mostly true to the military, or more so to the characters. Guess we'll see what the next chapter brings.

**Thank you to the following for their reviews of chapter nine:**

**Hagancameron, Tonker, Wicked Desire, Neptune's Mask, Petiyaka, Leena9, poOt, Amnesia Nymph, and Nellie.**

**The continued reviews keep me going and remind that someone out there really is reading and enjoying this. Plus it brings a huge smile to my face when those I wait to see the story updates of, those I instant message, respond to on Xanga or see reappear on these reviews leave me a new bit of encouragement.**

**Take care,**

**Haruka's Knight**


	12. Minako Aino

**Author's Note: **I've given up on distinguishing when they are speaking Japanese. As it's all written in English I'll leave most of that to your imaginations now. Once again, let me know what you think and if you find errors. I love comments, even just "Keep writing".

**Special thanks to: Neptune's Mask for being a sounding board for this chapter.**

**Chapter 12: Minako Aino**

"Oh come on Anderson, it'll be fun." Minako begged, blue eyes watching as the young specialist continued to read over a medical journal. "Besides, I wanted to thank you for helping me so much with my Japanese."

"It's really not necessary; I've only taught you the basics." Amy spoke as she glanced at her watch and sighed. She felt somewhat relieved and yet disappointed to have to cut the conversation short. "I'm sorry Aino, but I have night shift and I need to get to the TMC."

"People are in there at night?" Minako blinked in clear confusion as Amy smiled.

"Of course, someone needs to be there for emergencies." With this statement the young woman rose from her seat, taking a moment to pick up her bray on the way to the door.

"Hey, how did you get your own room anyway?" The blonde asked as she followed Amy out the door and toward the stairs.

"I don't know, it's just been that way since I arrived." The blue haired specialist sounded slightly lonely as she spoke these words. Minako started to say something as they reached the door but Amy shook her head. "I'll think about it Aino but no promises."

"Great!" Minako jumped happily and her combat boots made a loud clank sound as she landed back on her feet, just inside the door frame. The blonde raised an eyebrow or do as she did a happy little victory dance that carried her out onto the pavement before the door. "We'll have a blast Anderson, I promise."

"I didn't promise anything yet. . ." Amy tried to remind the private but they were interrupted by a sergeant sitting behind the reception desk.

"Aino! How many times have I told you not to go outside with out your cover?" The non-commissioned officer glared toward the two as she approached. "Get inside or find a bray now! I thought they taught you this stuff at BASIC."

"Yes sergeant!" Minako took off through the door at a dead run and the sergeant gave a long suffering sigh.

"No running on the stairs!" She called, shaking her head and walking back into the building. Amy hid a smile as she turned and started her walk toward the TMC. The sky was stained orange by the dieing sun and Amy passed few if any others on her way.

"Hey, where have you been?" Minako asked, eyeing Haruka with curious blue eyes. The taller blonde sat again at the small desk in their room, a black folder lay open before her and she was resting her head on one fist as she looked over it. Minako got no response so she stepped closer and noticed small ear phones resting inside Haruka's ears. A glance at the folder told her what the other woman was doing, more music to memorize.

Minako sighed and went off to take a shower, giving Haruka a few extra minutes with what she was doing. Still, when she emerged from the steaming shower the taller and older blonde was in the same position she'd been before.

As she opened her locker to get some clothes Minako shook her head, her roommate really didn't know how to spend a Friday night. She slipped into a tank top and a pair of jeans before grabbing something and closing the locker. A small smile crept onto her face as she snuck toward Haruka's back, a broken rubber band held in her hands. She stopped at arms length, placing one end of the rubber band near Haruka's ear and pulling the other back toward herself. After a long pause, she let go of the end nearest her.

"Ow!" Haruka jumped in her seat, dropping a CD player from her lap onto the floor. She spun to look down at the now giggling Minako. "What the hell was that for?"

"Hi, how ya doing? I'm your roommate, remember me?" Minako held out one hand as if they were meeting for the first time. "You know the one you've hardly spoken to since the concert a while back."

"Okay, I get it I've been a bit busy." Haruka grumbled as she rubbed her right ear. "Did you have to choose my ear, I need those you know?"

"Don't be a baby." Minako walked over and picked up the CD walkman which had fallen open. Luckily the CD had stayed inside but she rose and eyebrow at the title on it. "I thought you were listening to the piece you have to play."

Haruka looked off toward the window as she closed her folder and took a seat on her bunk. Minako grinned and carefully closed the CD player again, handing it to its owner.

"What did you want?" Haruka finally asked a Minako grinned.

"A ride to Subspace and some company would be good."

"I've got a lot of music here to memorize." Haruka stated and noticed the teasing look that passed across the younger blonde's face. "I need have this memorized by Monday."

"Right, because everyone knows violin music helps any piano player focus." Minako grinned when something that wasn't quite a blush tried to fight its way to Haruka's face. God only knew what the older woman was thinking, but at the moment Minako was just happy to see her roommate interested in something other than a piano. "Come on Ten'ou, one night off won't kill you."

"I'll drive you out to the club, but from there you're on your own." Haruka warned, standing and walking over to get something to change into. The tall specialist had been very careful not to repeat the incident with her uniform.

"I guess I'll settle for that if I have to." Minako sighed as Haruka disappeared into the latrine. After a minute she grinned and started to think things over. Maybe there were a few things she could get done at the club, things that might be a bit harder with Haruka present.

The black mustang pulled to a stop at the curb and Minako all but jumped out the passenger door. Haruka leaned across the now vacant seat and eyed her roommate from behind a set of reflective glasses.

"Why are you so hyper, less than an hour ago you were begging for company?"

"Hey, with how you dress the guys inside will probably think you're my boyfriend." Minako stuck her tongue out at the other blonde. "How am I ever going to get a guy that way?"

"Whatever you say Aino." Haruka sat back up, looking toward the road as Minako came back to lean on the door. "You have the number for my cell phone, so give me a call when you want to head back. That is, unless you find some guy to drive you back to post."

"But then I'd have to tell them I was a soldier and you know what always goes along with that." Minako watched Haruka nod a bit and stepped away, closing the door and smiling. "See you later Ten'ou."

The black car slide away smoothly and Minako let out a sigh of relief. She wouldn't have minded if Haruka changed her mind and stuck around, but she was on a mission tonight. She turned, facing the door and walked over to the bouncer rather than the line with a smile. At first he just cocked a brow but it took her less than five minutes to talk her way past the line.

Inside the club tonight rave music pulsed, many of the customers waving glow sticks or wearing some sort of glowing jewelry as they danced. Minako glanced around but the low lighting didn't allow her to see much and the different glowing colors were distracting. Her blue eyes scanned the floor, the shadowy swaying forms of people, and then slowly climbed up the wall. Inside the DJ booth she again noticed there was almost no light.

"Why is he always hiding?" She muttered, watching the DJ who moved nearly invisibly in pure black. The face beneath the black hat and hoodie was lit only by black lights and the occasional flash of a blue electric glow stick. Minako watched with rapt attention and wondered why anyone that far above the crowd would go through so much trouble to hide.

"Something interesting up there?" Asked a familiar voice in Japanese. The song changed, the beat picking up a little, as Minako turned to find Makoto behind her. Minako held her chest and breathed a sigh of relief, having half expected the guys from her first visit. Green eyes turned concerned. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay; I was just a bit distracted." Minako returned in Japanese and Makoto paused this time. "What?"

"You got better, last time we met you didn't know what I was saying."

"Anderson is a very good teacher." Minako stated her smile back in place as she glanced around. "So, are you here with your boyfriend or just looking for guys?"

"Neither, Usagi-chan wanted to come see Mamoru-san." Makoto waved back toward the bar. Thanks to the dim lighting behind the bar they could just make out Usagi and Mamoru speaking and seemingly nearly oblivious to all around them.

"Well then, guess you can keep me company for a while." Minako said happily and grabbed Makoto's arm. The blonde pulled the slightly taller girl out into the throng of people and started to dance. Makoto blinked for a moment, then just gave in and joined the dancers around her.

"Hino-san." Setsuna paused at the door of the DJ booth, watching as the young DJ took a moment to flip some controls here and there. The younger woman turned to face her, sliding her head phones off one ear and waiting for whatever the older woman might have to say. "I'm going to Kaioh-san's last concert, I've told the club employees that you are in charge and if you're busy to ask Chiba-san. Will you two be able to handle things?"

"Of course Meiou-sama." Rei bowed a bit, as much as she could with a pair of head phones tethering her to the booth. Setsuna smiled and left, leaving Rei to both her work, homework hidden under the sound board, and to any emergencies that might happen. Violet eyes came back to the floor as the speakers below throbbed enough the make the nearly sound proof both vibrate. Those on the floor seemed to enjoy the music, even though the track was in English and she wondered how many even understood the words.

"Kino-san?" Minako asked as they were walking back toward the bar, both a bit thirsty.

"Call me Makoto." The brunette said in a friendly manner and Minako grinned.

"I was just wondering something; do you happen to know why the DJ always seems to hide?" Minako looked off as they reached the bar, not wanting to see the expression her question brought on. "I mean he seems to go out of his way to hide his face."

"Hino-san is very private." Makoto said, her smile a bit more amused than Minako had expected. Blue eyes came back to green questioningly and Makoto only shook her head. "The only reason I know Hino-san is we went to school together, if not for that I doubt I'd even know who was in that booth."

"What can I get you two?" Mamoru asked as he walked over to them, leaning on the bar even as Usagi came over to sit with the two.

"Same as always." Makoto said and received a nod. Minako blinked for a minute then asked for whatever Makoto just ordered. A minute or so later three drinks were placed in front of them and Mamoru smiled at Makoto.

"Hino-san just called from the booth; do you think you could take this up for me?"

"Sure, I can introduce Aino-san to her."

Rei wasn't looking at the door as it opened again; she didn't look up from the world religions book until a coke was more or less dangled before her eyes. She slipped off her headphones, switching the hand with which she held her glow stick, and accepted the drink quickly.

"No thank you?" Makoto asked, causing her to glance up then freeze. Behind Makoto stood another young woman with bright blue eyes and long blonde hair. She wore a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt and what seemed to be a black Dickeys jacket. Makoto grinned and waved a hand toward Minako. "Hino Rei, this Aino Minako. She was curious about you so I brought her up with your drink."

"If this is your way of trying to impress a date Kino-san I swear I'll have them throw you out." Rei growled slightly as she turned off the glow stick. The sound board seemed to almost glow since it was marked in special paint, making everything easily visible under the black lights.

"Nice to see you too, Hino-san." Makoto returned with a trace of annoyance, but more amusement in her voice.

"You're female." Minako said, her eyes blinking as Rei finally turned her violet eyes back to the new comer.

"So are you." Rei said and Makoto poked her, giving her a discouraging look. Rei sighed and held out her hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude but Makoto-san forgets to warn me when she does this stuff."

"That's alright." Minako smiled easily as she shook hands with Rei.

"When have I ever brought someone up here?" Makoto asked, trying to defend herself.

"My first week on the job you brought some guy up here." Rei stated, turning back to the board long enough to adjust some controls. Minako looked over the board and wondered how anyone could remember so easily which control did what.

"Oh, I forgot about that." Makoto smiled and rubbed her neck with one hand. She looked to Minako and spoke in a friendly tone. "Don't worry about Rei-san; her bark is worse than her bite."

"Have anyone else to bother Mako-san?" Rei growled over her shoulder.

"I'll remember that the next time Mamoru calls asking me to bring you both food." Makoto laughed as Rei coughed. Rei grumbled an apology and Makoto just waved it off. "I'm going back down to the floor now, if you want anything else though I'll be around."

"Right."

"Can I stay up here for a while?" Minako asked, causing both women to sort of blink at her. She shrugged and smiled. "I was wondering what goes on up here anyway."

"As long as you're quiet it's fine." Rei said, turning her eyes back toward the book under the sound board and snapping the glow stick back on. Makoto looked like she wanted to ask but instead she just nodded and walked out.

"So, what are you doing?" Minako asked, coming to stand over Rei's shoulder.

"Reading my homework, I thought I said you had to be quiet."

"Did you?" Minako smiled at the disbelieving look she received. After a moment Rei sighed and closed the book, pulling a folding chair from behind another piece of equipment and offering it to the blonde.

"So, why did you really want to stay up here?" Rei asked, one ear covered by her head phones as she leaned on the sound board with her back to the floor.

"I wanted to know something about Makoto-san but I'm afraid to ask her." Minako waited until Rei had nodded then continued. "Well, the comment you made sounds like she's…"

"She's bi-sexual as far as I know, but that isn't either of our business. That is unless you plan to ask Mako-san out." Rei said, her voice calm but there was a defensive under current to it.

"Actually it wasn't me, but I think a friend of mine might. Well I mean my friend is shy but, I just have a feeling that they'd be cute together."

"I remember your name you know. Aino Minako, you were involved in the fight a few months ago." Rei said, seeming to change the subject and Minako blinked. "I could have sworn that Meiou-san said you were part of the US military, so why should I trust you on any of this?"

"You have something against the military?" Minako blinked, now she was completely confused.

"Usually I don't care about the military at all, but the US tends to have their military in everyone places it doesn't belong." Rei noticed the fact that Minako was starting to look more serious. "Can you explain why the US military belongs in Japan?"

"No, I never asked." Minako puffed out a sigh and shook her head. "We have bases all over; it's just part of being in the military. I'm just an administrative clerk anyway; I don't even rank above anyone."

"Wait, you're a secretary?" Rei blinked.

"What did you think I was?"

"I don't know, but the thought of a military secretary is just a bit strange."

"Why, we need things filed just as much as anybody. My roommate is a piano player." Minako smiled when she noticed this seemed to surprise Rei more. "Hey, we can't all be Rambo."

"What exactly were you hoping to get out of me?" Rei asked, again changing the topic.

"I just want some help, Hino-san." Minako sighed and walked over to stand in front of her, meeting the dark violet eyes carefully. "I was hoping you knew a way to get Makoto-san down here tomorrow night."

"I do, but you really shouldn't be playing these games with people."

"I'm not playing any games; I just want to give the two a chance to talk again."

"No, you want to get one of them to make a move on the other one. I thought the US military was all straight people." Rei said and Minako actually smirked.

"Come on, no where is only straight people. That's like saying that there is a country with only white men in it." Minako leaned very close and Rei stiffened a bit. The blonde smiled and tilted Rei's hat a little. "You really shouldn't hide so much; you have really nice eyes and a very cute face."

Rei was still blinking when Minako strode out of the booth, shoes clicking a little as she retreated down the small hall. She shook her head, trying to clear it, and turned her eyes back to the sound board. For a few minutes silence filled the booth, aside from the loud snare drum that drifted from her head phones. Eventually she heard foot steps again and this time Makoto entered the booth alone.

"Hey there Rei-chan, what happened to Aino-san?" Green eyes scanned the room as she dropped into the abandoned chair.

"I don't know, she got board I guess." Rei responded. Silence reigned again for a few moments, and then Rei looked over to Makoto. "Hey, would you mind bringing dinner tomorrow night? I'm going to be so busy during the day I'm not sure I'll even have time for lunch."

"Sure thing." Makoto smiled and Rei turned back to the board. For the moment her homework was forgotten. Tomorrow it was up to Minako, whatever she decided to do.

**Review Responses:**

**Bahamut's King: **Sorry about the small amount of H and M thus far. To explain I am doing my best to keep realistic to the way things were on the bases I've seen, and to a few I have been told about. It may seem a bit slow but I am moving toward something. I'll see if I can get out another one shot sometime soon to make up for it. Thanks for the review.

**King of Warlords: **Here it is.

**Petiyaka: **Thanks, and I'll try to get more onto Haruka soon.

**Neptune's Mask: **Thank you for both the correction and the help m'lady. (bowing) Took me long enough to get this up, hope I'm not late getting home.

**MIHARU83: **Hey, we were born the same year! Yup, I am always curious. Thanks for reviewing again, helps to know people are reading.

**Hagancameron: **Thank you for the spelling correction, I'm always glad for the help. I might just add a bit of Makoto and Ami for such a good reviewer so keep your eyes open.

**Po0t: **Here it is, and thanks for the review.

**Amnesia Nymph: **Thanks for reviewing again, I really enjoy recurring reviewers. I hope I didn't make you wait too long.


	13. Small Island

**Dedication: To Neptune's Mask, thank you for being my happy thought lately dear. Yes this is the same person who I added a special thanks to last chapter. looks around with an innocent expression Must be coincidence.**

**Chapter 13: Small Island**

Saturday morning came all too early in Haruka's opinion as light spilled through the barracks room window. The tall blonde would have been all too happy to roll over and put the day out of her mind, if not for the sound of Minako digging around in her wall locker.

"What are you doing?" Haruka managed in the tone of someone half dead, half opening her eyes to look at Minako. The shorter blonde continued to take things and stuff them into a small duffle bag. Haruka dully noted that she wore combat boots and her BDUs.

"Morning Ten'ou, sleep well? Hey, I need to borrow you car." Minako spoke with out turning to look at her.

"You what?" Haruka raised a brow, having never even seen Minako drive. The taller blonde sat up on her bunk, now fully awake at mention of her Mustang.

"Well Anderson has a car but it's in the shop and we're going out tonight."

"Why don't I just join you?" Haruka suggested thinking of some mini disasters her roommate had caused and not wishing them on her car.

"No!" Minako winced at her own tone and Haruka's surprised look. She smiled at the blonde specialist and started to lock up her locker. "I mean, no you have all that music to memorize and we're just going out for a few hours. It's just Subspace; you'd probably be board anyway."

"Okay, I'll choose not to ask this once." Haruka stood and stretched scratching absently at her hair as her gray t-shirt moved with her. She fought a yawn and walked toward the latrine. "But I'll drive you, since I need the car tonight. Give me a call if you two need a ride home."

"Sure thing." Minako sighed in relief and waved. "Okay, I'm off to go turn a genius into a slightly cooler genius."

The door shut again and Haruka sighed, glancing toward the open note book lying open on the wooden desk as she paused. Teal eyes skimmed over the notes she'd already memorized, the music playing in her mind. The thing that bothered her was that her mind kept drifting back to quiet tunes played by a violin, rather than the arrangements she'd been ordered to be ready to play by Monday. A distraction was definitely in order tonight, even if her hyperactive roommate wasn't involved.

"Anderson, wow I didn't even realize it was you." Amy and Minako looked up from their conversation near the barracks door. Before them, hair almost red in the fading sun stood Haruka. The taller blonde tipped her sunglass a little and smiled at the shy medic. "So this is what you two have been up to this afternoon."

"It took forever to convince her to wear the skirt." Minako whined a little even as Amy looked away with a slight blush.

"I still don't see why I have to wear a short skirt."

"We're going to a dance club, how are you going to dance in that floor length one you wanted to wear?" Minako paused as Haruka laughed and looked at her questioningly. "What?"

"You sound almost like . . ." Haruka paused then blinked. She apologized and quickly pulled Minako off to the side, dropping her voice to a whisper. "Are you setting Anderson up on a date?"

"No, what made you think that?" Minako tried to look innocent but Haruka just raised a brow. Finally Minako sighed and let her shoulders fall. "I wouldn't call it a date."

"Then what exactly is it?"

"I'm trying to make her a new friend."

"With who, you can't be going off post just to meet an Army guy?"

"Makoto Kino." Minako waited, but when it didn't click she spoke again. "You remember, that girl that helped you the night we were in the fight."

"Aino, I hope you know what you're doing." Haruka commented, still not believing the whole thing was innocent.

"I do, don't worry Minako Aino is an expert at this."

"Whatever this is." Haruka muttered, leading the way back to the car and opening the door for Amy and Minako. She bowed, forcing a cocky grin for the two. "My name is Haruka and I'll be your driver tonight ladies. I do ask that you keep your hands, arms and limbs inside the vehicle at all times, and that you remember smoking is prohibited inside the Mustang."

"How do I live with you?" Minako joked with a grin and received a playful wink from the taller blonde. Once they were all seated Haruka backed out of the parking spot, then turned the car and made record time to the gate. She slowed just as they came into view of the check point and waited in a short line of cars.

"Ten'ou, have you been to where we're going?" Amy asked and Haruka glanced into the rearview mirror.

"Yes ma'am, you mean Aino hasn't told you yet?" Amy shook her head and Haruka turned teal eyes back to the road. "Don't worry; I'm sure you two will have fun."

"You aren't coming?"

"I have somewhere else I wanted to go, but I'll be picking you both up later."

"You're being very quiet about your plans tonight." Minako put in with a sly look on her face as she eyed the back of the blonde's head.

"I could say the same for you." Haruka grinned as Minako went silent and seemed to find her bracelet extremely interesting. Only light conversation followed until they pulled up in front of Subspace. Haruka waited as the two climbed out of the back, then looked at them through the window. "You have the number and your cell right? And you did remember to recharge your cell phone, right?"

"Yes dad, I even took the trash out this morning." Minako said in a jokingly exasperated tone. Amy giggled as Haruka went from confused to smirking again.

"Well behave yourself girls, give me a call when you start to get board."

"Night dad!" Minako yelled happily as she waved and tugged Amy toward the line. Haruka sighed slightly as she turned back onto the road and drove off.

She cursed for a while, one hand on the wheel while the other rested on the open window. The car slid through the night air and caused a breeze to dance around the inside, tossing Haruka's hair this way and that.

Haruka pulled into a spot near the pier less than an hour later. She shut off and locked up her Mustang, walking slowly onto the beach and listening to the waves as they crashed against the sand. The blonde stuffed her hands in her pockets as she stood and just watched the waves as moonlight reflected from them.

"It seems Japan is a small island, isn't Haruka-san?"

"Seems so." Haruka turned and smiled at Michiru as the young woman walked over and stood next to her. The blonde was glad she still wore sunglasses as she noticed Michiru wore a swim suit with a towel draped about her shoulders. Teal eyes racked once across the woman's form, and Haruka suppressed a low whistle that begged to escape her. "Out for a swim?"

"The hotel has a pool, but for some reason I've always enjoyed the ocean so much more." Michiru commented, receiving a sort of dull nod from the blonde. She gazed up at the taller woman curiously. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm not really sure; I was driving and just felt like stopping here." Haruka spoke as she mentally slapped herself. Losing her composure around the violin player was not a good idea, though Haruka wasn't sure why it seemed hard to maintain.

"Why don't you join me?"

"Uh, even if I had a swimsuit I'm not much of a swimmer Michiru-san." Haruka quirked her head to the side as Michiru giggled. "What did I say?"

"I'm sorry, I meant for dinner. I haven't eaten yet and I'd enjoy the company."

"Oh, well in that case I'd be happy to." Haruka grinned and for the second time that night bowed. She was barely realizing she'd stopped her car across the street from Michiru's hotel. "After you then, miss."

"Thank you." Michiru linked her arm though Haruka's and led the way back across the street. The door man of the hotel didn't so much as bat an eye as the two women passed him and strode toward the elevator.

Haruka found herself looking over sheet music as she waited quietly. Michiru had led her to a hotel suite near the top floors, and then disappeared into a bedroom to shower and quickly change. Teal eyes glanced up again, taking in a large window as she set the music back on the end table.

Haruka had always found herself drawn to high places, wither it was the top of the monkey bars in school or the highest hill she could find in her home town. Now she stood before the window and looked out at the night shrouded city below her. She leaned against the window sill and allowed her eyes to drift shut, almost swearing she could hear a low wind passing the glass before her.

"The view from here is one of my favorites." Michiru's quiet voice broke into the silence a few moments later. Teal eyes opened and looked over to the elegant young woman. "The ocean and the sky both seem so close from here, it's very relaxing."

"I can see what you mean." Haruka stood, straightening but not tucking in her collared white shirt. She offered her arm again with a friendly smile. "Ready to go?"

It was a short drive to a small restaurant nearby and Haruka found a parking place with out much problem. They were just getting out of the car when a man called out from across the street, waving excitedly. Both paused as the young man jogged over to them, smiling as he bowed once.

"It's a pleasure to see you again Kaioh-san, I thought you had said you had plans tonight." As he spoke his eyes shifting to Haruka only once "I wished you said you were having dinner with family, I could have gotten you reservations at a much better place."

"That's alright but thank you for the thought Hiroshi-san." Michiru shifted her eyes up to Haruka who just raised a silent eyebrow and waited for whatever hint the violin player gave her. Michiru waved a hand to indicate Hiroshi and spoke again. "Haruka-san this is Hiroshi Arakawa, he's the owner of one of the concert halls I frequent. Hiroshi-san this is Ten'ou Haruka."

"I don't think Kaioh-san has ever mentioned having a brother so you must be her cousin." He smiled in self-assurance. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well Arawaka-san." Haruka glanced at Michiru and could see the other woman's well hidden annoyance with the man before them. "Actually Michiru-san and I aren't related."

"Oh, how do you know each other Ten'ou-san?"

"Meiou-san introduced us a few months ago and ever since I've been waiting for a chance to ask her out to dinner." Haruka smiled and offered her arm to Michiru again. "I hope you can forgive me for stealing her away tonight but it's hard to tell when the next opportunity well be with Michiru-san's busy schedule."

"Of course." The man blinked and stood aside, clearly deflated as they walked past.

"Where did that come from Haruka-san?" Michiru whispered once they were seated, earning a playful grin from the blonde.

"You seemed to be trying to avoid the man, unless of course you had plans earlier tonight."

"No, I was trying to politely avoid Hiroshi-san." Michiru sighed as she glanced over the other diners. "He's been asking me out for a while but I wasn't interested."

"So why not just tell him that way?" The blonde asked, picking up and looking over her menu.

"I may not have to now, as he probably thinks we're dating." Michiru picked up her own menu, glancing over it and hiding her curious expression. "Should I be worried you can lie with such a normal expression?"

"When did I lie?" Teal eyes looked up and met blue, Haruka smirked a little as Michiru seemed to be thinking. The blonde shook her head and looked away again as she spoke. "Meiou-san was the reason we met, and I have been waiting to ask you to dinner so I could thank you for that night on the beach."

"Oh." Michiru lifted her menu to hide her face and fought a smiled as she spoke again. "Is that why?" Before Haruka could even think about answering a waiter appeared so the blonde just left it at that.

After dinner they returned to the hotel and Haruka walked Michiru up. Haruka was grinning as they stood before the hotel room door and talked.

"Well that was a fun night." The blonde commented.

"Thank you for going to dinner with me." Michiru said and was somewhat surprised when Haruka leaned forward and seemed to be examining her face. After a moment the blonde reached out and pushed some stray hair from the violin player's face.

"I should probably get going." Haruka's voice dropped as she spoke and she lost her grin.

"Most likely." Michiru agreed, both failing to notice they were instead leaning toward each other. Their faces were a hair's breathe apart when a happy little tune erupted from Haruka's pocket and the blonde jumped backward, turning away as she pulled a cell phone from her pocket.

"Aino? Sure I'll be right there." Haruka spoke in a rushed and seemingly jumpy voice. "No, its fine you can wait inside. See you then."

"Haruka-san." Michiru blinked as the blonde specialist spun on her heel and bowed.

"I'm sorry Michiru-san, that was my fault and it won't happen again." Haruka turned away and started down the hall. "I need to go pick up my roommate before she gets in any more trouble."

Michiru watched the blonde walking toward the elevator and replayed conversations with Setsuna, debating with herself for a few moments. She shook her head and quickly followed the blonde, catching up as Haruka was forced to wait on the elevator.

Haruka glanced at her and Michiru seemed almost aggravated as she grabbed the front of Haruka's shirt and pulled the blonde down into a quick kiss, before pulling away with a sigh as the elevator arrived.

"It wasn't your fault Haruka." The violin player turned away this time and started back to her hotel room.

Teal eyes blinked and Haruka was still staring at the space previously occupied by Michiru. Her brain finally got up as the elevator dinged and began to close. The tall blonde jumped and threw her arm between the doors to cause them to spring open again. Once in the box like elevator she sighed, running a hand through her hair and feeling the beginning of a headache behind her temples.

The black Mustang pulled up in front of Subspace, tires screeching to a halt as its blonde driver parked at a red curb and hopped out. She growled a little when the bouncer asked her to move her car, causing the man to quickly back down as she entered.

Truth be told, Haruka wasn't angry just utterly confused. As she looked around the rave party going on inside the club all she wanted was sleep.

"Ten'ou-san!" The voice caught her and she turned to see Makoto and Amy standing by the bar.

"Where's Aino?" Haruka asked as she reached the two.

"She disappeared again; we're not sure where she went." The question was answered in a moment's time though when a perturbed blonde woman all but stormed up to the three.

"Hino-san is a pain in the . . ." Haruka was fast enough to get a hand over the shorter blonde's mouth before she could finish. Makoto was clearly amused even as Amy was left blinking from the outburst.

"Breath Aino." Haruka said and slowly loosened her hand over Minako's mouth, only to be bitten and have to pull back completely in pain. She glared a bit at her shorter friend as Amy came over and took a look at her hand.

"I'll be outside." Minako said, turning away and walking off quickly.

"How does she expect me to drive if she bites my hands off?" Haruka muttered, coaxing a grin from Amy. Haruka pulled her hand away from the other specialist and nodded to Makoto. "I'll be outside, good night Kino-san."

When Haruka got back outside she found Minako calmlt sitting in the backseat of the Mustang, the passenger door was still open and the seat forward. Haruka just shook her head and got in the driver's seat, realizing she'd even parked on the wrong side of the road.

"Sorry about your hand Ten'ou." Minako muttered as Amy appeared and walked over to the car.

"It's okay, I can drive with just my right tonight." Haruka said and intentional removed her left hand from the wheel. She pretended to be shaky and Minako grinned a little in the mirror.

That night as Haruka lay in her bunk her mind replayed the scene before the elevator. She resisted the urge to growl as she thought of two deep blue eyes close to her own, knowing she couldn't. She couldn't let herself feel anything now, not when her body belonged to the military.

Haruka's thoughts became a jumble and the blonde muffled a growl by shoving a pillow over her own face. She thought she could handle this; she'd never had a problem not acting on things before. What was so different about Kaioh Michiru?

**Author's Note:**

**My god that took me far too long to update. Sorry but I have been slightly distracted by a few things, some good some bad. I think I rewrote this three or four times . . . But it's done, finally. I'll try to get the next one up with less of a wait period.**

**Review Responses:**

**Indigo Spirit: **This is the first time I've brought in so many of the characters, I can only hope I'm doing a good job.

**Neptune's Mask: **I'm glad you liked it love. I don't know if this chapter came out longer, I'm just glad it finally came out of my head. For some reason I find myself less focused on this story recently.

**Tonker: **I'm still thankful. If not for the continued to reviews I have a lot less motivation to keep writing the story, and I probably wouldn't have ended up with so many posted. Plus I'm really glad people have been nice enough to take the time to leave me those nice encouraging reviews in the first place. Hope you like this chapter.

**Nellie: **Wow this took me a while to finish, and still I have as of yet to describe what happened at the club.

**Po0t: **Glad you like it so much. B-) I hope the wait wasn't to long.

**Amnesia nymph: **Glad you liked that line. B-) I don't know how well repeating it to a parent would work but hey. . . Oh, and I read some of Rainbow the other day. You've got me intrigued and I can't even guess who the murderer is.

**Hagancameron: **Thank you. Somehow Minako just seemed the most likely to try being a match maker at the moment.

**Bahamut's king: **Sorry, it's just taking a little longer to build this one up. I am currently considering another story about H and M, but for now it's still on the drawing board.

**Okay, now I'm a bit tired and I'll just be off to post this. Hope all of you enjoyed it and thank you again for the continued reviews.**


	14. Another Small Island

**Chapter 14: Another Small Island**

The inside of Subspace was as full of people as always, Minako could feel the thump of the music as it played from large speakers above and near the dance floor. Amy walked behind her with a bit more caution, seeming to be as far out of her element as possible tonight. The young medic allowed her blue eyes to drift across the night club, taking in the dancers and those who sat at tables drinking and trying to shout to each other over the music. Minako grinned at her and nodded to their left, walking that way a second later.

"Good evening Aino-san." Mamoru greeted from behind the bar as the two reached it. Amy was slightly grateful since the bar seemed to be placed in the quietest area of the club, probably so drink orders could be heard.

"Hey, have you seen Makoto-san tonight?" Minako asked, ignoring the fact that the man had spoken English.

"She came in earlier with some food for Hino-san." He paused for a moment as he squinted up and across the room toward the sound booth. "I think she might still be up there."

"Oh, well in that case can we get two cokes?" Minako said quickly, cutting off the question she saw rise in Amy's eyes. Mamoru nodded and walked off to get their drinks and the two fell silent for a moment.

"Aino why did you pick this club?" Amy finally asked and Minako turned a smile toward the specialist.

"Because it's a fun place to spend time."

"But someone tried to kidnap you here, and Ten'ou came back with a head wound." Amy commented, her face clearly doubting Minako's previous statement.

"Sorry to interrupt but can I join you two?" They looked up to find a somewhat tall brunet with kind green eyes standing behind them. Minako smiled and Amy seemed to blink.

"Hi Makoto-san." Minako stood and waved to her bar stool. "Why don't you take my seat, I have to go use the bathroom anyway."

Before Amy or Makoto could comment Minako had all but run off toward the right side of the club. After a second Makoto dropped onto the stool and smiled toward Amy.

"I think we've been set up."

"What makes you say that?" Amy asked, even as she shied from meeting Makoto's eyes. The young medic took to watching the mirror behind the bar instead, but still her eyes ended up tracking Makoto's reflection as they spoke.

"Well, for one, the bathroom is in the other direction." Makoto pointed off toward the left where a faint green glow from a sign could be seen. "Then there's the fact that Rei-chan asked me to bring her food saying she didn't have time to get herself anything to eat. When I walked into the booth she was hiding take out under the sound board."

"Why would they go through all that trouble?" Amy asked, blue eyes meeting green in the mirror's surface.

"I don't know, but I was wondering something." Makoto turned to look at Amy's profile and smiled. "Would you like to dance?"

"Kino-san I don't. . ."

"It's just two friend's dancing." Makoto said with a smile as she stood and held out a hand. "And please call me Makoto-san at least."

"Thank you Makoto-san." Amy took her hand and was led over toward the floor full of people dancing to rave music. By the time Mamoru reappeared they were gone so he just set down the extra coke behind the counter and took to drinking the other himself. If they came back he could always get them another.

In the booth Minako smiled and leaned over Rei's shoulder, eyes following the two forms as they left the bar. Rei ignored her for the most part, focusing instead on adjusting a few things on the panel before her. She realized the blonde soldier was just behind her, one hand resting on Rei's shoulder so she wouldn't have to lean on the board, but Rei didn't feel like bothering with the young woman.

"Hey, they just walked to the dance floor!" Minako pointed out happily.

"Just like the other people in the club." Rei muttered, her annoyance leaking into her tone and causing Minako to jump a little.

"Why are you so mad today?"

"I'm not mad." Rei all but growled as she turned her eyes toward the blonde and glared. "I just don't see what business either of us has in either of their dating lives, and don't tell me you weren't trying to set them up on a date Aino-san."

"Let's change topic." Minako said, backing away from the irked DJ with her hands rising before her chest in surrender. The blonde smiled and took a seat on the folding chair behind her. "What are you studying? I remember you had a book yesterday."

"What does it matter?" Rei turned again to look over the sound board.

"Oh come on, what could it hurt to tell me what your major is?"

"World Religions." Rei finally growled out and was met with silence. There was a span of nearly five minutes before she heard Minako's confused voice speak again.

"Why would you major in that?"

"Because my family are the keepers of a Shinto Shrine and I felt it help me to have a better understanding of other religions as well." Rei glanced over at Minako again and caught the blonde nodding slowly. "I only work here to pay for school."

"You're a miko then?" Minako asked, a slow grin beginning to spread across her face. "That seems to fit you somehow."

"I'm so glad you approve Aino-san." Rei let her sarcasm practically drip from her voice.

"What's a real shrine like?" Minako asked, leaned forward a bit in her chair.

"Quiet." Rei responded and watched the dance floor. "It's mostly the birds and those who keep the shrine."

"Can I visit?"

"It's not a tourist attraction." Rei growled and seemed to twitch. "Would you visit a church on a tour of some country?"

"If I went to Italy I would. They have some really famous ones there." Minako seemed to be searching for a name and Rei shook her head. The blonde noticed the action and raised an eyebrow. "What did I say this time?"

"Nothing." Rei chose to ignore the blonde for the moment in favor of changing the music again. Minako, for her part, fell silent and just watched the DJ at work. Somehow, she admitted to herself, Rei would look right in priestess's robes.

"Where do you think Aino went?" Amy looked at Makoto, hoping the other young woman knew. They were making their way off the floor after losing any sense of time.

"I'm not sure but I doubt she's far away." Makoto responded as they reached the bar again. With out asking Mamoru walked off to get two sodas as each managed to get a stool. Green eyes turned and looked to Amy curiously. "Are you two close friends?"

"I wouldn't say close, I've just been helping her with her Japanese." Amy looked at the polished surface of the bar as she spoke.

"Hey guys!" Minako seemed to just appear over their shoulders, causing the two to jump in their seat and face the young blonde. She smiled at them, blue eyes filled with amusement. "I got a little lost when I was coming back from the bathroom and couldn't find either of you."

"We were dancing." Amy supplied looking toward the floor with a shy look. The medic seemed all too easy to fluster when taken away from her element and uniform. Again Minako smiled, she was always amused at how professional Amy could be and yet how quickly she was thrown off foot in personal situations.

"Great I was hoping you were doing something fun." Minako started to turn away when Amy caught her hand and showed her the time on her own cell phone. Minako winced slightly at the glowing numbers and nodded. "Alright, I'll give Ten'ou a call."

"Thank you." Amy smiled and Minako nodded, disappearing into the crowd again.

"You have to leave so soon?" Makoto asked, paying Mamoru for the drinks before looking again toward Amy.

"I have work tomorrow." Amy replied, her tone slightly apologetic as she took a sip of her soda. They both fell silent for a moment before Amy spoke again. "I had fun, thank you for the company Kino-san."

"Makoto, my name is Makoto." The tall brunette corrected, managing to earn a smile from the young medic. She took out a pen and wrote a number on a napkin before passing it to Amy. "If you're ever bored or you just fell like doing something give me a call."

"Thank you." Amy smiled again and Makoto turned back to her own drink for the moment.

It didn't take long before Minako reached the DJ booth again, taking a seat on the folding chair with out comment. Rei watched the blonde pull out a cell phone and dial a number quickly. There were a few moments while Minako apparently waited for someone to pick up, then she grinned.

"Hey Dad, think you can come pick us up?" The blonde caught a weird tone in Haruka's voice and looked a little confused. "Do you want us to meet you outside?"

Minako blinked as the line clicked, and then she stared at her phone for a moment before looking up at Rei. Rei noted that the young blonde looked as if something just wouldn't fit in her head. The DJ turned from the board with a sigh and folded her arms across her chest.

"What happened?" She asked.

"My roommate hung up on me, she never does that." Minako stated in a voice full of surprise.

"Maybe she thinks you shouldn't be getting so involved in other people's business." Rei suggested in a tone filled with annoyance.

"What does that mean?"

"It means you shouldn't try to trick people into things. Makoto-san and your friend aren't toys you know." Rei blinked when Minako stood and glared at her, taken slightly off guard by the sudden shift.

"I don't think they're toys I just want to give them a chance to get to know each other."

"You could have done that with out having to lie. Come on Aino-san, you know they wouldn't have gone along with it if you'd told the truth." Rei turned away, thinking she'd won this argument hands down.

"If that's true why did you go along with all this?" Minako asked glare fixed on the other woman's back.

"I thought it was the only way to get rid of you, I guess I was wrong because you're still up here." Rei said, not truly thinking about what she was saying.

"Fine Hino-san, I'll leave." Minako said not even sure why the comments from the dark haired woman bothered her so much. She turned on her heel and walked toward the door. "All you had to do was ask."

The door to the booth slammed shut and Rei winced for a moment, listened as foot steps retreated down the hall. After a few deep breaths no sound was left in the booth aside from music drifting from the head phones around her neck. She waited for the sense of relief that usually accompanied the silence, but it didn't come. In fact the opposite seemed to be true as her dark eyes looked out toward the floor, still hidden in the shadows of her dark baseball cap and hood.

Minako was only angrier as she walked swiftly across the dance floor and over to where Haruka had found Amy and Makoto. She came to s halt near her roommate and nearly growled in her frustration.

"Hino-san is a pain in the. . ." A hand came around to cover her mouth, clamping down on the words and Amy looked at her in surprised. Minako took a deep breath as Haruka instructed her too, waiting as the hand over her mouth let up a bit. Once she was sure the taller blonde didn't expect she bit her, causing a pained sound to escape Haruka and the hand to retreat quickly.

"I'll be outside." Minako said, ignoring the glare Haruka shot her way and walking off.

"How does she expect me to drive if she bites my hands off?" Haruka muttered, coaxing a grin from Amy. Haruka pulled her hand away from the other specialist and nodded to Makoto. "I'll be outside, good night Kino-san."

Haruka turned and disappeared toward the door, leaving the two alone for a moment. Makoto finally broke the silence as she bowed.

"I think I'll go see what Rei-san said to make Aino-san so mad." Makoto smiled at Amy and sighed. "She has a talent for upsetting blondes; Usagi-chan and she are famous for their arguments."

"Good night Makoto-san." Amy said.

"Night Amy-san." Makoto waited for a moment as Amy disappeared into the crowd, and then she turned and walked further into the club. She skirted the dance floor, following the wall until she came to a door with an employee's only sign. She entered and made sure the door shut behind her, making her way up a small staircase and emerging into a dimly lit hall.

Rei muttered a prayer to herself as she watched the dance floor, her eyes not actually taking in anything below her. In her mind she visualized herself sitting calmly before a large fire at the sanctuary. She allowed the stress to slowly seep from her, releasing the pressure and focusing completely on the dancing flames of the sacred fire.

"Listen Aino-san if you came for an apology . . ." Rei started to speak as the door opened but Makoto's voice cut into her comment.

"She already left Rei-chan." Makoto was leaning against the door frame when Rei turned. For a moment the DJ was tempted to loose a curse but she restrained it and instead pulled her headphones totally off, setting them to the side.

"What do you want me to say Mako-chan?" Rei asked voice still somewhat on the defensive.

"Actually I was only curious, but you sound like you need to talk." The brunette ignored the glare Rei sent her way and stood straight. "Come on Rei, we both know you said something."

"It isn't my fault she thinks she's a matchmaker." Rei growled. "She should have stayed out of it instead of trying to fool people."

"What makes you think either of us was fooled?" Makoto smiled and waved a hand toward a small trash can from which protruded a take out box. "Don't think I didn't catch the fast food when I came up here the first time."

"That wasn't my idea."

"That isn't the point." Makoto sighed before turning back to the door. "Aino-san didn't do anything with bad intent; she just wanted to see her friend happy."

"And did you enjoy your date Mako-chan?" Rei's voice was mildly taunting and Makoto paused again. Rei blinked and reverted to a more normal tone. "Wasn't that the point?"

"Maybe in a different life time Rei-chan." Makoto's voice sounded regretful as she spoke over her shoulder, not meeting the other woman's eyes. "But it is nice to make a new friend."

Makoto left and it went silent in the booth again. Rei shook her head, giving up on understanding any of the night's events. All she'd gained was another annoyed blonde, a slight headache and some confusion about why Makoto wouldn't try to date Minako's friend. Whatever the reason, she decided; it was their business and no one else's.

**Author's Note:**

I'm sorry to all the Makoto and Ami fans out there. I considered writing a chapter or two focused on them; however the story was starting to drag a lot. I am considering writing a separate piece just for fans of the two, but I'm not sure yet.

On that note, I am starting work on the next chapter so enjoy and please review.

**Review responses: **

**Bdavi: **Thank, I'm glad you liked it. grinning Plus it's always a bonus to find someone from Fort Jackson. I admit that my knowledge has hit its limit regarding bases. I have only seen Fort Jackson and Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Didn't mean to insinuate they all requested Japan, just Haruka.

On a personal note: Though I passed my PT test and the waiver went through originally it was yanked by a general. For now I've decided to back off and go to a mechanical tech school, hopefully later on I can re-apply and make it in.

**Po0t: **There it is, the whole reason Minako was upset. Hope you liked the chapter.

**Petiyaka: **Haruka is just being affected by being placed in a new area with a new history. I guess I had the urge to write a version of her that was more toned down than the café dancing joker of "Truly Madly Deeply". If I didn't change it up now and then we'd all get bored with my writing. Flops backward at keyboard But it has been a whole new set of obstacles trying to write this. Still I hope you're enjoying it so far.

**Amnesia nymph: **holds hand up in surrender I give! I give! Here's the update. Sorry it doesn't really have much in the way of Haruka or Michiru, but I had to address what happened at the club sometime. Still I hope you enjoyed it and thank you again for the review.

**Nellie: **And there you have the events at the club. I think this chapter was the hardest to write so far, my mind wanted so badly to go back to H and M. I think inspiration was a better word than distraction, you're right.

**Neptune's Mask: **You know I always enjoy reading the "small novels" you leave in the review box. Ami/Amy and Makoto may end up the way you commented would "suck for the characters and readers alike". The jury is still out regarding Rei and Minako, mainly because I am not sure I want to play with that pairing at the moment. You infiltrate my stories regularly you know?

**Hagancameron: **Technically speaking Haruka can't really resign, its officers that can. Good thought though. Sorry that I didn't add a bit more Amy and Makoto, but it wasn't working out too well. I may write one about those two separately, they do make kind of a cute pair.

**And that's all for this update. Take care everyone and thank you again for all the reviews. Please let me know what you think of this and of "Night Out".**


	15. Don't Burn Brigdes

**Dedication: To my baby bro, because he is moving and no one knows where yet. I hope it will be close.**

**Chapter 15: Don't Burn Bridges. . .**

Haruka's hands slid easily over the piano's keys, her stiff green class a's not slowing her for a moment as she played the piece. Before the piano were three young men, all part of the ensample the blonde had been assigned to. As she played her teal eyes came up to take in the viola, violin and cello players for a few moments. She nodded toward Corporal Reyes as he met her gaze, and he granted a small smile and playful wink as he turned his focus back to his violin.

The room in which the four played was lit by an off white glow from countless light fixtures. Officers conversed or danced their dress blues spotless as they escorted women in dresses or danced with tuxedo clad men. It was a mixed group of the US military services, a ball to promote moral. . . Yet the blonde pianist could not shake her own disease at being here tonight.

Reyes, as the group's leader, had imposed a sort of curfew for practice over the last two months. Haruka had found it easier to stay on post than to risk being late. After the ball they were free, something which the males seemed extremely happy about. The blonde though was dreading it with every passing moment. She allowed her eyes to drift closed as she thought over the events of the past few months and over her last conversation with her lively roommate.

_"Ten'ou can't you make an exception this once?" Minako asked as she helped the taller blonde fix the dark green Velcro tie. She folded the pale green shirts collar back down as Haruka ran a hand through her hair._

_"Tonight is the ball; you know Reyes would kill me." Haruka began to turn away but Minako pointed her to a chair, the one Haruka's green coat was draped on. With a sigh the older blonde took a seat, indulging her roommate as Minako took a comb to her windblown, damp hair. She let her teal eyes shut and slouched a bit. "I know you want me to go with you, but I think the General and Reyes both outrank you."_

_"It isn't me that wants you there." Minako finished combing quickly through the short blonde locks and placed the comb behind her on the desk. Haruka stood, opening her eyes but not looking toward the clerk as she pulled her coat on. She buttoned it carefully, thankful that she didn't wear the uniform often and that Reyes hadn't ordered her to wear the skirt._

_"Then we don't have a problem, who else could want me at a night club?" Haruka blinked as Minako picked up her brae and slapped her in the stomach as she gave it to her. The blue eyes of her roommate were now glaring at her accusingly and Haruka felt her throat go dry._

_"You know actually who's looking for you. I may not know what happened but it isn't hard to tell that she feels awkward about it. She's worried and wants to know she didn't do anything wrong."_

_"I've been busy."_

_"Keeping telling yourself that and you might just believe it someday Ten'ou." Minako walked past her toward the door, grabbing a coat on the way and turning to regard Haruka's back at the door. "We both know why you're really hiding, it's Michiru who doesn't."_

Haruka opened her eyes again as the piece closed, catching Reyes' eye again. The man nodded, and each of the four took to their instruments again. Last song of the night, then they were all free for two full days. Her co-workers had talked of going off for a night of heavy drinking, or sleeping through the entire time. Reyes himself said he planned to spend it off post and away from everything music, away from uniform and regulation for forty-eight hours. Haruka, when asked, just said nothing and continued to practice.

Dancers took to the floor again, waiters carrying trays slowly disappeared and a few officers were already taking their leave. A few short minutes and she would be free, and now the blonde knew where she was going. A black Mustang was parked somewhere outside, waiting patiently for its owner as notes drifted through the night air.

Subspace emptied out, the bouncer having to all but drag out a few young men who had one too many. Minako sighed as she stepped out into the night air, glancing up toward the stars as she dug in her pocket for her cell phone. She paused and nearly jumped out of her skin when a hand landed on her shoulder. In a second she'd spun about and managed to tackle the figure, straddling them and holding either side of their collar in her hands.

"Air!" Rei yelled as she felt her own shirt being used to restrict her breathing. The blonde atop her blinked and released her collar in a second's time and Rei took a grateful breath. Dark eyes stared out from beneath her baseball cap and hood, which had somehow stayed mostly in place, as she smirked. "Why again did you need to be saved from those guys?"

"Ten'ou's been helping me." Minako muttered, fighting back the embarrassed blush as she forced herself to look annoyed. "Was there something you wanted Hino-san?"

"You off my hips would be a nice start." Rei put in sarcastically, but regretted it a second later. Minako nodded once then stood and began to walk away with out a word. In the back of her mind the blonde realized that throwing someone to the ground and walking away wasn't polite, but she wasn't sure she cared. Rei growled and picked herself up, glaring at the still walking blonde. "Sorry would have been nice!"

Again there was no response, and Rei grumbled to herself as she turned to start the other way. She paused as she noticed the cell phone lying on the pavement, its case was split and a few pieces had fallen off. She knelt and picked it up, noticing the screen had cracked when it fell, then the initials M.A. written in marker. She picked it up, what she found of it and stood.

"Why am I even bothering?" Rei asked herself, than started off the way Minako had walked. She jogged down the dark nighttime streets, past closed businesses, and caught sight of a white jacket. She slowed to a fast walk, noting that the young soldier had slowed and seemed to be checking her pockets again. After a moment she spoke in a normal, though seemingly loud to the silent street, voice. "Are you looking for something?"

Minako turned; seemingly ready to make some comment until she noticed what Rei held. After a pause Minako cursed and walked over to the other young woman, excepting what was left of her phone with a long suffering sigh. She hung her blonde head and leaned against the nearest building.

"This is what I get for messing with other people's business. You'd think I'd just learn my lesson already." Minako said blue eyes still on the pavement as she seemed to have lost any anger. "Sorry about what I did back there."

"I shouldn't have scared you that way." Rei said, shrugging though the blonde didn't see and lowering her voice a bit. Dark eyes glanced about the empty street they'd found themselves on. "What's so bad about helping your friends?"

"What did you just say?" Minako blinked and looked up, eyes confused as she gazed into the shadow of Rei's hood. Again the other woman shrugged.

"You just want them to be happy right?" Rei paused as Minako suddenly stepped forward and placed a hand to her forehead. After a moment the blonde did the same to her neck and Rei growled. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Checking your temperature, you must be sick." After a pause Minako shook her head and almost smiled. "Or maybe you're just from Mars and the real Hino-san was abducted."

"Why did I even come out here?" Rei grumbled as she turned away from the blonde again. She started to take a step but Minako caught her hand. Rei didn't turn but instead looked over her shoulder toward the young woman.

"What did you want?" Minako asked and felt Rei's hand twitch. She let go and Rei turned back to face her, shoulders slumping a bit.

"I'm sorry." Rei spoke the words grudgingly, pausing as two blue eyes again looked at her without comprehending what she was referring to. She released a sigh and looked off toward a window of a store on her left. "I didn't mean what I said in the booth."

"What exactly did you mean?"

"I like to be alone, or I did." Rei shoved her hands into her pockets and shrugged again. "I've always preferred silence over commotion, solitude over company. I never made friends quickly, actually sometimes Odango-san and Mako-chan is about it."

"So you mean you weren't trying to get rid of me when you helped me?"

"Oh I was." Rei assured her, and then spoke again. "At least I thought I was."

"Hino-san, you don't make any sense." Minako said, but she stepped forward and managed to get her finger nearly up to Rei's nose before the DJ could speak. "I'll forgive you, if you'll forgive me for intruding. Deal?"

"Sure Aino-san, sure." Rei grinned, knowing Minako couldn't see her face in the darkness and the shadow of her hood. What she didn't expect was for the blonde soldier to lean forward and pear at her from only an inch or two away.

"You're smiling." Minako accused.

"No I'm not; it's a grimace at the pain your company brings me." Rei shot back, lacing her voice with sarcasm. The blonde before her smiled and stepped back, turning as if to leave.

"Of course it is."

"Where are you going?" Rei called as Minako took a few more steps away.

"To find a payphone and call a cab."

"Can you even read the signs to tell them where you are?" Rei taunted and Minako turned back to face her. The blonde placed her fists on her hips and glared at Rei with a playful spark in her eyes.

"I happen to be getting better you know."

"Oh, and do you have a calling card or anything to pay the pay phone with?" The silence and frown that came over the blonde was all the answer Rei needed. She nodded toward another street to their right and spoke tauntingly again. "I suppose you'll have to come home with me."

"Don't get any ideas Hino-san; I'm not a DJ groupie." Minako joked as she came back toward Rei and the two began to walk together. Rei huffed and shook her head.

"Don't think for a second that you're my type, you get to use the phone and leave." Rei shot back and Minako smirked in her own strange manner. Rei paused and turned to face her as Minako also stopped. "What?"

"Come here and I'll tell you." Minako said, walking backward a little into a more shadowed area and beckoning Rei. At first Rei was skeptical but she slowly followed, stepping closer until they were together, hidden in the shadows.

"Now what?" Rei said quietly, expecting some sort of childish secret or strange out burst from the blonde. Instead Minako reached forward and slide her hands up and inside the hood Rei wore. Before she knew it Minako had pulled her forward, hands laced lightly into the long hair beneath her hooded sweater. Lips met hers in a teasing manner as a chill ran down her spine. The kiss lingered and Rei responded, not thinking as she pushed the blonde back further into the shadows.

Minako started to laugh a bit as Rei managed to pin her to a wall and start to deepen the kiss. The blonde pulled back as much as the structure at her back would allow and giggled at Rei's surprised look, grinning as she noticed Rei's hat and hood had fallen off.

"What's so funny?" Rei growled, dark eyes glaring into cheerful blue ones.

"Do you react that way to everyone who's not your type?" Minako returned, fighting more laughter as Rei seemed to freeze. The blonde smiled and ducked, managing to dart under Rei's arms as her hand pressed against the wall. She picked the black hat and pulled it onto her own head before facing Rei again. "So, where is home?"

Rei turned, one black eyebrow rising at the smiling blonde as Minako slowly backed away. Rei began to smile as well as she took a few slow steps forward and the blonde took a few more back. There was a moment of silence, and then Minako bolted down the street, followed by Rei. The chase lasted a few blocks, ending in a park when Rei managed to tackle the blonde private.

"Give me my hat back." Rei said, her voice demanding but not threatening.

"No." Minako grinned up at her, and stuck her tongue out. Rei glared and the blonde just laughed before reaching up and draping her arms over Rei's shoulders. "Are you sure it's the hat you want?"

"Are you bi-polar or something?" Rei sighed and pulled out of the blonde's arms to stand. Minako just giggled as Rei held out a hand to help her up. After a minute Rei carefully replaced her hood started off again, not even looking to see that Minako followed. She could hear the occasional giggle so she knew the blonde was following. For two months they avoided each other, acting as if the other didn't exist, and now Rei found herself leading her to the shrine. If she ever figured out what hell made the blonde grow on her so quickly it would make a good psychology paper.

Michiru set her violin down lightly as her cell phone rang, her blue eyes opening to look at the device but not taking in the number on the screen. She slowly set down the finely crafted wooden instrument and picked it up. She hit a button and placed it to her ear, assuming it was Setsuna.

"I know I should be asleep Suna, but I needed to clear my mind." Michiru began but the voice that responded wasn't what she expected.

"Actually I was hoping you'd have a moment to talk."

"Haruka-san?" Michiru blinked and looked around her hotel suite as if searching for some sort of ghost. "What are you doing awake? Aino-san said you had a concert tonight and that you'd probably go straight back to your barracks."

"I thought about that when I realized the club was already closed, but I was hoping to see you."

"See me?" Michiru wasn't sure why but she walked over to the door and opened it, shaking her head when no one was there. She faced back inside with out shutting the door and sighed. "Maybe we could talk tomorrow."

"Or if you have the time we could talk right now." Haruka's voice suggested. Michiru paused as she realized the voice hadn't come from the phone this time. She turned and found the tall blonde before her in a green dress uniform. It took a moment for Michiru to gather herself from the shock of finding the blonde there, and from the fact that for once Haruka was in something designed to show a few of her more feminine aspects. It was a very different image from the tuxedo of a few months ago, even as the same teal eyes regarded her seriously. "Permission to enter ma'am?"

Michiru nodded and stepped aside, letting the blonde in before shutting the door. If nothing else this was bound to be an interesting talk.

**Author's Note:**

**I honestly couldn't explain where the part about Minako and Rei came from, but I guess I felt up to something playful. Maybe it's the effect of writing when I just finished talking to my girl friend. (Yup, life has gotten more interesting and relaxing recently.) If I'm lucky I'll get this posted sometime in the next week, but I don't know.**

**A friend of mine is in the states until Saturday, after which he goes back to Iraq so if he comes down I'll be occupied. I have to respect the guy, he's a medic attached to the 82 nd Airborne. Hooah Josh, hope we get to talk before you have to get on the plane again. Okay, well I really should be sleeping. Take care out there.**

**Review responses:**

**Neptune's Mask: **Hey look, you're my first response! Glad you enjoyed the chapter. Hm, well as I am talking to you on IM I will move on so I can get back sooner.

**Tonker: **Hi there. B-) Thank you for the review. I may be bringing this story to an end soon, so I think I may take a bit of time off and write a new story that focuses more on Ruka and Michi. . . Or I may move to a different pair for a while. Who knows?

**Amnesia Nymph: **Here you go, number 15 offically up. With any hope I will have 16 up in the next week or so, depending on how wipped work leaves me. Ah well, off to work so I can get it out that much faster right?

**Leena9: **Hey there, we're in the same boat. I was an honorable med from the regular Army in '03. I try to keep any "graffic love sceens" out of my fics generally. This is for a few reasons including a lack of experience in order to write about it believably. As for Rei and Minako, I am kind of toying with the idea of a spin off story following those two. Ah well, we'll see. Thank you again for the review.

**Hagancameron: **There aren't many happy points in here, are there? Well this one is probably getting ready to wrap up so I think maybe the next story will be a bit lighter. Can't write everything serious or sad can I? Anyway, thank you for the review and I hope you liked this chapter.

**That's it for the current reviews, thank you for reading. Yes if you read I am considering wrapping this story up in the next few chapters. There are a couple reasons for this, the main one being that I am unsure if I am going to have internet access after July 9 th for a while. Also I am trying to get a job that is roughly 12 hours a day for six to seven days a week. The pay is good there, but it doesn't leave much free time. Still I could really use this job so please wish me luck.**

**As always, reviewers are treasured.**

**Take care,**

**HK**


	16. The Way Things Go

**Dedicated to anyone still reading after a few months of silence.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: That's right, I'm back in one piece. This story is about to do a bit of a jump and I wanted to apologize for that. In fact I think this chapter may not flow with the story quite as well as I'd like, and for that too I apologize. There are two main reasons behind this: 1) I left it for so long that I can't help but change the feel a bit. 2) I am not the same Haruka's Knight. Before you think I'm crazy just remember that we all change with experience, and I just had an interesting one. I honestly believe no one is ever exactly the same after any military training, regardless of length and format. With that said, please enjoy the chapter.**

**Chapter 16: The Way Things Go **

_**2007**_

"If you were to ask me I'd say my life wasn't so bad, actually I've enjoyed being part of the military and I recently received a two rank promotion. Still, you'd think it was something to regret if you looked at those gathered here today. I guess you have different outlook from this side of things. Not like anyone is really listening to me, they can't anymore."

Rose Hills Cemetery was as calm and peaceful as ever. The southern Californian sun blazed brightly overhead, summer heat beating down upon the procession taking place. Still, the Army burial detail was unhindered as they showed their final respects to the departed soldier. The Chaplin, here as a personal favor, spoke calmly and reverently but most mourners had trouble focusing on anything but their own memories. In fact people didn't seem capable of speech until the casket was lowered and the twenty-one gun salute had ended.

It was as family, friends and battle buddies were approaching their cars that Master Sergeant Carson finally walked over to the young woman standing before the fresh grave. He stood silently beside her for what felt like an hour, both paying their respects with out intruding upon each other. The silence was only broken when he felt the young woman beside him needed to speak to someone.

"I'm sure she wouldn't want so many sad faces today, she never seemed to like that." Carson forced a smile and nodded toward the casket settling into its new home. The dark oak was covered in roses of different colors. "Actually I'm not so sure she'd be crazy about the roses either."

"Master Sergeant you don't know what it's like."

"What? You mean to watch your friends and co-workers deploy and risk death from behind a big chuck of wood?" This time Carson was amused at the look he received and couldn't help the sarcastic joke which escaped his lips. "No, you're right my desks are normally made of metal and plastic."

"What did she see in you?"

"I couldn't tell you as she never told me, what I can tell you sergeant Ten'ou is that she used to always tell jokes at the worst times." Carson's blue eyes looked again to the engraved headstone and the cold letters there. "First Sergeant B. Day, she actually out ranked me. You know we had a bet about who'd retire at a higher rank?"

"What are you getting to?" Haruka finally lost her cool; this was the fourth funeral she'd been to this year. She took a few deep breaths as her teal eyes looked up toward her superior and he just smiled kindly at her.

"You know why Day never returned to recruiting duty?" He asked, waiting until Haruka shook her head. "She said she'd hate to be stateside so long while people she trained with were at risk. She wanted to at least have a chance of saving a friend from being deployed away from their kids or spouse."

"How does this apply to me Master Sergeant?"

"She also said she felt bad for anyone with a non-deployable job, that she couldn't do twenty years in something like that." Carson looked toward the grass at his feet and shook his head. "Ten'ou, you should be hitting the end of your contract soon, maybe it's time to rethink this life."

"You think I should get out?"

"I think you should decide for yourself." Carson turned and sighed. "Maybe ask yourself the reasons why you joined, and if those are still enough. We aren't all lifers."

Michiru Kaioh sighed as she shut off the news. Over the last three years little had changed in the news. The world sometimes seemed to revolve around Iraq, and soldiers and civilians alike died there. Everyday she took to watching world news and listening for stories, sometimes wondering if that conflict would ever truly end.

"Kaioh-san!" A blonde poked her head around the door frame, smiling happily at the violinist as bright blue eyes met with deep blue. "Meiou-san said you were here somewhere!"

"Hello Minako-chan, I thought I told you to call me Michiru." The violin player tried to smile for her young friend. "What brings you out today?"

"Well a certain second lieutenant is flying in today and Makoto-san and I are trying to throw her a surprise party." Minako smiled sweetly and gave her best puppy dog eyes. "We were hoping her favorite musician might be nice enough to come."

"Don't say yes, the American will think that stupid look got her what she wanted." Rei rounded the corner and glared at Minako with a hint of amusement hidden behind her dark eyes. "Did you even greet her before you asked her a favor?"

"Of course I did, I think." Minako paused and looked sheepish before turning to bow to Michiru. "Gomen Michiru-san, I didn't mean to be rude."

"You aren't Minako-chan." Michiru smiled brightly this time, happy to see the two young women. "And I'd be happy to come."

"Yes!" Minako turned to Rei and formed the fingers of her right hand into a victory sign. "I told you she'd say yes."

"Probably out of pity, after all someone has to provide intelligent conversation for Anderson-san."

"Hey!" Minako started to glare then paused and grinned before poking Rei in the ribs with her index finger. "You're going to be there too, I guess that means you aren't intelligent conversation."

"What makes you think I'm coming? I hardly even know Lieutenant Anderson?"

"Yes but you do know and love me." Minako smirked evilly toward her girlfriend of three years. "In fact I seem to remember last night . . ."

"Alright!" Rei quickly placed a hand over the blonde's lips and smiled to Michiru. "Alright I'll go."

"I thought you'd see it my way kio." Minako pulled Rei's hand away and winked at Michiru. "See you at about seven Michiru-san. You know how to get to Makoto-san's apartment don't you?"

Makoto's apartment was dark and nearly silent, aside from Usagi trying hard to suppress giggles from behind a couch and Mamoru whispering for her to calm down. Michiru sighed from her position, kneeling behind an arm chair and waiting. They'd all hidden when Mamoru had spotted the brunette's car pulling up to the complex, but no one had thought to actually wait for the guest of honor and hostess to at least get out. No, instead here they were, as they had been five minutes before.

"It's just over here." Makoto's muffled voice floated through the front door and Usagi's giggling seemed to increase. Mamoru went silent and everyone, Usagi excluded, seemed to hold their breath for a moment's time.

The door handle jiggled and something dropped, followed by Makoto letting a quiet cruse slip. A bit of shuffling was heard before the handle jiggled again and the door swung open, allowing a small shaft of light into the living room but still leaving the party goers in shadowy hiding spaces, concealed from the figure which first entered. A click was heard and the world seemed to flood with light as the ceiling light came on.

"SURPRISE!" Michiru, Mamoru, Rei, Minako and Usagi all jumped, stood or popped up from their hiding places. Dazzled as her eyes were from the sudden light Michiru couldn't see the young women that entered even as she heard Minako squeal. The long ago discharged soldier's eyes had adjusted it seemed as she darted past Michiru across the room and tackled someone to the ground.

"The guest of honor isn't supposed to bring a surprise!" Minako complained as Michiru was blinking her vision back into existence. She could just make out a figure, Minako straddling their legs as they rubbed their hooded head, sprawled on the carpeted floor.

"I wasn't aware anyone was here, in fact I thought I turned down the offer of a party." Amy glanced toward Makoto, the brilliant rank insignia on her formal uniform causing another dazzling little light effect which distracted all eyes in the room. Still Michiru had a nagging feeling, something which pulled her deep blue eyes back to the figure prone on the floor.

"Ten'ou!" Minako happily exclaimed the blonde's name even as Haruka winced from the volume. Her teal eyes had just tracked on the last figure in the room, standing behind an arm chair seeming confused. Or she had looked confused until Haruka's name was spoken, now she was just outright pale and the violin case in her hands dropped lightly to the floor.

"We found her at the airport so I guess this can be a double welcome party." Makoto spoke with what sounded like sheepish amusement in her voice, rubbing the back of her neck. Still Haruka's teal eyes didn't leave the young woman with the wavy sea-like hair and deep blue eyes.

"Excuse me for a moment, please." Michiru bowed toward Makoto and Amy before she made her way out into the hall, leaving her violin and a room full of still confused people behind her.

"Michiru." Haruka tried to call her name but the violin player was already out in the hall. The tall blonde sighed then looked up toward her former roommate. "I'm glad to see you again too, Aino."

"Yeah, you love me I know." Minako smirked as Rei offered her a hand off the taller blonde. Once she was on her feet she waited for Haruka to stand and pointed at the door. "Go talk to her."

"What makes you think I want to?" Haruka grumbled, still rubbing a sore spot on her head as she pulled the hood of her pull over down. The younger blonde glared at her and reached up to lightly smack the spot, causing Haruka to jump away. "What was that for?"

"You know what they say, Cease the hour!"

"You mean cease the day?" Makoto offered as helpfully as possible and Minako sighed.

"I hate sayings; I never seem to get them right." She then shook her head and pushed Haruka toward the door. "Go out there before I ask Makoto-san and Rei to kick you out."

Michiru tried to ignore it when the door to the stair well opened; she'd hoped no one would find her there on the landing. A silent figure took a seat next to her, leaving just enough space not to take away from Michiru's personal bubble but still close enough that blue eyes could just make out the tall blonde figure. Michiru glanced to her left and took in the blonde she hadn't seen in a number of years.

Haruka's hair was grown out just a bit and seemed to have a wind blown appearance as if she'd run a great distance. Her hooded sweater was at least a size to big, navy blue with a Nike symbol across the front and made of fuzzy material. The collar of a black t-shirt was just visible near her hood, and Haruka's hands were buried in the front pocket of the sweater. She wore a pair of black Dickies, and some old faded blue sneakers that looked to have seen a few hard miles at least. But the one thing Michiru didn't see was any sign of the military uniform she'd last seen the tall blonde in.

"I'm actually glad I ran into you tonight, it saves having to search every concert hall in Japan." Haruka tried to joke, finding that Michiru's gaze averted toward the wall on her right instead. Haruka sighed and fell silent again.

"What would you do if I hadn't been in Japan at all?" Michiru finally asked.

"Search Europe." Haruka replied as a ghost of a teasing smile came back to her lips while Michiru nodded silently and leaned lightly against her. Another moment of silence enveloped them only to broken when Michiru spoke again.

"And if I wasn't in Europe?"

"Then I'd have ended up searching the rest of Asia."

"Careful Ten'ou Haruka, someone might think I was important to you." Michiru warned, closing her eyes with an expression somewhere between indifference and disappointment.

"I deserved that, and that was close to what I said before I left." Haruka growled lightly, frustrated with her own past actions. "I wanted to apologize for that so many times, it wasn't meant the way it sounded."

"You didn't write or try to contact me."

"I was, never mind there isn't a good reason for that either." Teal eyes closed and Haruka rubbed the bridge of her nose lightly with the fingers of one hand. So far this wasn't going well at all. "Do I get credit for the thought at least?"

"I'll think about it." Michiru commented, knowing Haruka couldn't see the amused smile that was beginning to creep across her lips. "Maybe I'll let you know in a few years specialist."

"Actually it's Sergeant now, and the title really isn't necessary." Haruka calmly spoke, eyes still closed. "I doubt whatever job I find that they'll be calling me Sergeant anymore."

"What?" Michiru sat up as she thought that over, causing the blonde's eyes to snap open. Again Haruka smirked, this time in a very tired manner.

"The US Army is looking for a new piano player, not that they don't have a number of them."

"So you aren't being stationed in Japan again?"

"Nope, but I am looking for an apartment." Haruka tried not to grin too widely as she spoke her next few words. "You see I recently spoke to an old friend and it left me thinking. The Army showed me a lot of things, and I had the chance to see a lot of places I'd never seen. But through out the last few years there was one thing the Army just couldn't make me stop regretting."

"What's that, Ten'ou-san?" Michiru asked, looking at Haruka curiously even as she was fighting a bit of excitement that was trying to build inside her.

"Not doing this instead of putting my foot in my mouth that night." Haruka didn't wait to get asked what, instead she leaned over and kissed Michiru lightly and shyly. It'd been years since the elevator and she had no way to know how the young woman would react. The blonde was nervous, hoping not to be slapped and also hoping not to be rejected. She wasn't sure what would come next.

"That was very rude Ten'ou-san." Michiru whispered as they parted. The violin player smiled as light seemed to dance in her eyes, their faces still a mere inch apart.

"I'm sorry Kaioh-san." Teal eyes searched blue, unsure what to do next.

"You should be." Michiru leaned toward her ear and spoke softly. "You haven't even so much as asked me out, Haruka."

"I haven't?" Haruka leaned back and forced a fake look of shock onto her face. "I can't see how that happened; something must have distracted me from speech."

"Just ask."

"Am I forgiven?" Haruka turned serious in a moment's time, gazing at Michiru with apologetic teal eyes.

"I wasn't mad, but I was disappointed." Michiru turned her face toward the wall again but a gentle hand brought it back. Haruka kissed her forehead this time.

"Then please let me have the chance to make it up to you." Haruka spoke softly. "We can see where this goes, no military laws anymore. No more running off to get my roommate from a night club and no more transferring out of the country to hide."

"Convince me." Michiru said playfully before she tugged Haruka forward by the collar and kissed the blonde again. Haruka deepened the kiss and gave up on conversation, thankful beyond words that the young violin player was willing to so easily let the past go.

"So do you think Ten'ou got kicked out too?" Minako asked, sitting next to Rei on the couch. Amy was discussing some form of medicine with Mamoru as Usagi wandered behind Makoto into the apartment's kitchen. Rei rolled dark and bored eyes toward her girl friend.

"I doubt it; she was always smarter than you." Rei smirked at the now irate blonde next to her. "For one she didn't go out and pick up girls at her first duty station only to get caught by her own commander."

"Wow, I was wondering how you'd ended up out Aino." They looked up as Haruka entered the apartment again, Michiru following her a second later. Minako noted they were holding hands, at least until Michiru walked over to the arm chair to retrieve her violin.

"She didn't say the best part!" Minako grinned and ducked as her girlfriend tried to silence her. She smiled toward her former roommate and spoke again. "I came to Subspace at her request after we'd had an argument and broken up. The C.O. happened to be there that night when the female voice of the DJ came over the public announcement system."

"I don't get it." Haruka had a clearly puzzled look even as Rei finally managed to get a hand over Minako's lips, her own face turning red.

"Rei-san announced to the entire nightclub how much she loved her girl friend Minako Aino and wanted her back." Mamoru smiled as he filled in the blanks for Haruka. "In English and Japanese. Your old commander nearly choked on his drink and poor Minako-chan happened to be standing next to him ordering a drink at the time. She dropped her glass, saluted the man, than ran for the DJ booth while he blinked."

"How long did it take for them to kick you out?" Haruka asked, trying not to laugh while Rei glared at Mamoru.

"The commander pulled some strings to be nice to me, but I was on Rei's doorstep a month later." Minako smiled and leaned against the disgruntled former DJ.

"And I haven't been able to get rid of her since."

"You love me and so does Grandpa." Minako stuck her tongue out and Rei rolled her eyes.

"Egotist."

"So then you're the only one left in." Haruka commented, looking at the young doctor standing by Mamoru. Amy smiled gently and nodded shyly. "Are you going to go for retirement?"

"I don't know." The young woman looked toward her feet, never having been comfortable with being the center of attention. "I might try to start my own practice in three years."

"Foods here." Makoto announced, coming out of the kitchen with some expertly balanced trays covered in food. Haruka smirked, walking over and wrapping her arms around Michiru's waist as the other's gathered around the food. Blue eyes looked up at her as Michiru leaned back into her arms.

"Thank you for the second chance." Haruka whispered.

"It's just a rain check really." Michiru smiled and spoke again. "And I think Setsuna wouldn't mind having another roommate for a while."

"The club owner?"

"Yes, club owner and my best friend." Michiru stepped away then tugged Haruka toward the food. "You have to try Makoto-chan's cooking."

The tall blonde came willingly, noticing things felt calm here. Maybe she'd never forget the friend's she'd lost, or stop writing to the ones stationed around the world, but she'd didn't feel the same way. She didn't feel almost guilty for the job she had, or for spending her time entertaining at balls while someone she trained in BASIC with was somewhere sleeping on a cot. Maybe, just maybe she'd leave that feeling behind for good.

Michiru popped some type of food in the blonde's mouth Haruka focused on the here and now. She focused on smiling blue eyes and the small group of people she barely knew. This was just the next chapter in life.

**Author's Note:**

Sorry if that seemed to leave a large gap in the story or if Michiru seemed to give too easily. I've actually been trying to write this chapter since September but I couldn't force it, finally tonight the idea wanted to come out of my head. Yes this is the final chapter, though I haven't decided if I want to revise the chapters later. If I do though, it'd probably just be to add the final conversation of the previous chapter.

I hope you enjoyed this story and I'm sorry it took me so long with so many pauses.

Please take care,

Haruka's Knight

PS

Remember, reviews are a great way to motivate people.


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